The Nuts and Bolts of Writing: Recent Episodes

Fortunus Games

Fortunus Games (game dev, writer and graphic novelist) interviews a wide variety of writers who dabble in many genres, including but not limited to historical fiction, modernism, and fantasy. We talk about what we aim to achieve in our novels/comics/games and share our experiences regarding our writing journeys!

Hi, everyone. Today, me, Imelda or Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast, will be reviewing Lawrence Grossberg’s “Under the Cover of Chaos: Trump and the Battle for the American Right.”

Lawrence Grossberg is the Morris Davis Distinguished Professor in Communication and Cultural Studies at the University of North Carolina. Additionally, he is an internationally recognized leading figure in Cultural Studies whose work has been translated into 18 languages.

In this book, Grossberg looks at whether Donald Trump’s “irrationality, cruelty, and bombast” are “symptoms of his personality.” He also looks at whether the chaos Trump has caused is a sign of his incompoetence, and whether his populism, nationalism, and illiberalism is an appeal to existing feelings of rage, resentment, and abandonment.

Find out why I gave the book 3.5/5 stars.

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In this episode, podcast host Imelda/Fortunus Games reviews Philip Roth's novel, "Operation Shylock: A Confession." Find out what it's about and why she gave it 5/5 stars!

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Hi, everyone. This is Imelda or Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast. Hope you had a good winter break and happy new year!

This is just a short announcement about how we are moving on to season three of “The Nuts and Bolts of Writing” podcast. In this season, we’ll continuing interviewing fiction and non-fiction writers and reviewing books. However, we will also be expanding the scope of our podcast to include literary criticism.

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Today, host Fortunus Games reviews John D. Wilsey’s “American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea.” Find out why she gave this book 5/5 stars and why she found it a useful resource for understanding Christian Nationalism and other current political trends in the U.S.
You can get this book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/American-Exceptionalism-Civil-Religion-Wilsey/dp/083084094X

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American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea

Host Fortunus Games reviews one of her favorite books, Philip Roth's "The Counterlife." She had previously reviewed it with co-host Tete DePunk in 2021 (Episode 70 of this podcast), but she wants to give a more streamlined summary and review of the book in this episode. Listen to find out why she gave the book 4/5 stars.

“The Counterlife” is one of Philip Roth’s lesser known works. Written in 1986, it is the fourth novel to feature Roth’s fictional novelist, Nathan Zuckerman. A string of "what-ifs," this novel explores the thin line between reality and fiction and the role of fiction in writers' lives.

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In this episode, host Fortunus Games reviews one of her favorite books, Orhan Pamuk's "My Name is Red."

Set in 16th century Ottoman Empire, this book is a murder mystery at its core. The first chapter is from the perspective of a court artist who was murdered, and you have to read through the book to discover who murdered him. There’s a dizziying kaleidoscope of perspectives, including the perspective of a dog and who you could call the protagonists of this work, Black (an administrator who has returned to Istanbul after 12 years abroad) and Shekure, a widow who wants to find a new husband and father for her two boys after her soldier husband went missing four years ago.

Besides its beautiful descriptions of artworks and the political and religious consequences of switching from one art style to another, "My Name is Red" is a riveting read due to Pamuk's ekphrastic writing. Ekphrastic writing describes artworks, and Pamuk uses it effectively to explore history, politics, and human psychology.

Listen to this episode to see why I gave this book 4/5 stars.

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Host Fortunus Games reviews Frictional Games' SOMA (2015), a sci-fi horror game that really touched her when she played it in 2016. Find out why she gives the game 4/5 stars.

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Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast, reviews one of her favorite books, Philip Roth’s “American Pastoral.”

This book explores how an all-American athlete, veteran, and business owner's life falls apart when his daughter becomes a radical anti-war protestor. A critique of the American dream and the dangers of conventionalism, "American Pastoral" is the first of Roth's American Trilogy and is followed by "I Married a Communist" and "The Human Stain."

Listen to this episode to find out why Fortunus gave the book 4.5/5 stars.

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Today, co-hosts Fortunus Games (a.k.a. Imelda) and Tete DePunk talk to artist and writer Carrie Knowles about her novel, “The Inevitable Past,” which I, TeteDepunk, and R.N. Roveleh have had the pleasure of reading.

Check out episodes 211, 212, and 213 for Carrie’s first appearances on this podcast, where she talked about writing fiction, writing non-fiction, and the link between visual art and writing, respectively.

Here’s Carrie’s bio: Carrie Knowles is a prolific award-winning author and arts advocate.

Along with her nine books, she has published short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, and received numerous awards for her writing.

She was named the North Carolina Piedmont Laureate for Short Fiction in 2014.

Carrie has published five novels: Lillian’s Garden, Ashoan’s Rug, A Garden Wall in Provence, The Inevitable Past, and A Musical Affair, as well as Black Tie Optional, a collection of 17 of her short stories. Her memoir: The Last Childhood: A Family Story of Alzheimer's, has been described as a “must read” for family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.

During her time as the 2014 Piedmont Laureate, conducting writing workshops across five counties in North Carolina, she wrote a writing workbook aimed at providing the basic tools a new writer would need to get started: A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write Stories from Start to Finish.

She writes a personal perspectives column for Psychology Today, Shifting Forward, and has recently published a collection of the first 50 stories from her column titled: Shifting Forward: Fifty Reflections on Everyday Life.

To learn more about Carrie, go to her website: www.cjanework.com

As for her novel, “The Inevitable Past,” which is the focus of this podcast, it was published in 2020 by Owl Canyon Press. It is a story of two women: a grandmother and a granddaughter who never knew her, and a timely look at women’s right to vote and have a voice. It challenges the notion of who we are and what compels us to make life-changing decisions.

Tete and I asked Carrie the following questions:

How did you develop a ghost as a strong interactive character? Most stories with ghosts are “ghost stories.”
How did we, the readers, feel about the grandmother’s ghost?
How was it like to publish a story that is out of the “normal” realm of what is popular in publishing today? Did it make it harder to pitch your work?
Balancing a multiple-perspective story can be daunting. Especially when working first-person POV. How did you tackle that challenge?
Tied in with the previous question: how would you advise writers, if they’re writing a multiple POV story, to keep each voice consistent? You did an amazing job keeping each voice of the granddaughter, the grandmother, and the Matron, respectively distinct from each other, yet unified these narratives into a complete story.
The pacing is well-balanced, too. How do you know when to focus on a chapter, and when to move on, for pacing?
What type of research did you have to do to create this story? When is it appropriate to research to incorporate historical facts into fiction?

Buy “The Inevitable Past” from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088JQYJ7G/ref=x_gr_bb_amazon?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_bb_amazon_ca-20&linkCode=as2&camp=15121&creative=330641

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Today, co-host Tete DePunk reviews a game that had a large impact on her, Journey (2012) by thatgamecompany. Listen to find out why she loved it!

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Co-hosts Tete DePunk and Fortunus Games explore the themes explored in Dear Esther, a 2013 video game created by the acclaimed English video game company, The Chinese Room.

Dear Esther explores the process of grief and emotional transcension through a vague character reflecting on the loss of his wife.

Throughout the game, as the character reveals through mystic soliloquies of science and religious reveries, that the accident is indirectly their own fault. This adds another weight of guilt into the mix of grief and loss.

The game lacks much interaction. Instead, the player is left with no choice, but whisked into the immersion of being drawn across the harsh landscape of a desolate, scrub-bush island. The lack of choice is fatalism played out, much like the character forced to process their own loss and realize, life, like death, is inevitable in its juggernaut of events.

Fortunus and Tete ask each other the following questions to discuss Dear Esther:

What do you think the game’s story is?
What do you think of the biblical references?
Do you consider this a game, since it is just a walking simulator with no action or puzzles?
What can this kind of game offer that other types of game cannot offer?
What do we make of how the character processes grief?
The ending is somewhat vague. Does the character kill themselves and ascend spiritually? Or somehow transcends beyond death? Is this a good ending?
What can we learn from Dear Esther?

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Host Fortunus Games reviews a book by one of her favorite authors, Orhan Pamuk - “Silent House.” Written in 1983, “Silent House” is Pamuk’s second novel. It tells the story of three siblings - Faruk, a historian, Nilgun, a sociology student who sympathizes with leftists, and Metin, a high school nerd - visiting their grandmother Fatma in a small town near Istanbul.

Unfortunately, Fortunus Games didn't really enjoy this book and gave it 2/5 stars. Find out why.

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Today, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, reviews the 2023 Spiderman movie, Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse.

A colorful, bold, and heartfelt sequel to the innovative 2018’s Spiderman :Into the Spiderverse, Across the Spiderverse surpassed its predecessor in terms of pushing the boundaries with animation, sound design, and pacing.

Despite being an hour longer than its prequel, Across the Spiderverse excelled in its pacing. It covered a layered story, starting and concluding with a poignant yet satisfying arc with Spider-Gwen.

The movie also introduced, like Into the Spiderverse, several fascinating characters with striking personalities and unique animation designs.

But where the movie really made impact was its emotional clarity and ideological conflict.

Listen to this episode to learn why Tete enjoyed this movie!

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Bioshock had many problems when it came to portraying several groups. Here’s what co-hosts Tete DePunk and Fortunus Games both noticed when playing the games and watching others’ gameplay videos.

Many fans will argue that the racist depictions, such as the Rapture vending machines, like El Bandito, are products of their time. The disturbing caricatures featured heavily in Columbian propaganda are also attributed, sadly, to real-life media depictions throughout American art and entertainment. However, how can we explain the stereotypes of characters such as Grace Holloway?
Why is Charles Milton Porter racist to you?
Why is Daisy Fitzroy from Bioshock Infinite problematic?
Why do you think a wildly outrageous and offensive racial caricature of “Yellow Peril” such Dr. Yi Suchong would be greenlighted in a work that came out in 2007? Even Burial at Sea, released in 2013, repeated this offensive depiction of the infamous Dr. Suchong. What does this say about the franchise’s treatment of characters who are Eastern Asian?
Dealing with a more evasive topic- characters such Tennebaum and Dr. Steinman appears borderline anti-Semitic. Yet the franchise’s creator, Ken Levine, reportedly draws from his Jewish-American upbringing. Would these depictions of stereotypes be seen as inverted through a self-critique, or viewed, upon closer inspection, as internalized racism?

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Co-hosts Tete DePunk and Fortunus Games talk about Elizabeth Comstock from the 2013 game, "Bioshock Infinite." They explore the following questions:

Elizabeth stands out from many female characters, especially in gaming. What do you think are the key traits that make her stand out?
What makes her story and personality carry the story so well? Why is she so vivid?
So for Tete, a former homeschooler, Elizabeth’s own experiences and struggles resonate STRONGLY with Tete. What are some of the parallels between Elizabeth’s challenges and Tete’s/other homeschoolers?
How is Elizabeth’s isolation similar to extreme homeschooling?
Elizabeth struggles, too, with a toxic parent. What are the effects we can see manifest in Elizabeth’s life and mindset in Infinite?
Although non-canonical, Burial at Sea gave us a glimpse into an alternate Elizabeth. Was she out of character? Or did we see the further “effects” of her past catch up with her?
What can we learn from the outcome of both Infinite and Burial at Sea?

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Watch the video version which shows scenes of the game.

In this episode, hosts Tete DePunk and Fortunus Games discuss one of their favorite games, "Bioshock Infinite." We discuss the following questions:

Booker is actually Comstock in another universe. What do you think set the stage for an alternate Booker to become Comstock?
Comstock himself is an unorthodox antagonist. Unlike most antagonists, he’s deluded that he’s really saving a chosen people and believes his own form of religion will save the Nation. But he’s turned to other means to make his reality come true. What do we make of his religious extremism?
Are we facing a similar trend of religious extremism today, especially in the US?
Let’s talk about Columbia, the floating country of Comstock’s radical reality. (We can also talk about the theory that Columbia was originally DC.) What can creators learn about good worldbuilding from a world like Columbia?
Despite the striking contrast in its ensemble, what makes the Infinite cast work? We have characters ranging from the powerhouse populist leader Daisy Fitzroy to the enigmatic but charming Luteces. What makes this cast work? What can we learn about a character cast working together in a heavy story like Infinite?

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In this episode, Tete DePunk (IG: @tete.depunk), one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews writer James Michels, author of novels such as “The Ballad of Johnny Carlo”, “Ice Rising”, and its sequel, “Icebox”. Prolific in the Crime-thriller genre, James michels has also recently released a crime fiction anthology, “Life’s Dark Corners”.

As of 2015, he is an Officer with the Department of Corrections. Crime fiction explores the darker reality of life, often exposing social and personal issues in ways that other genres might not fully show. Its focus on the grittiness of ordinary reality for the individual facing an unfriendly world has made this particular genre a compelling one.

Tete asks James the following questions:

What got you into writing?
You mentioned you always enjoyed the true crime and crime fiction genres. What drew you into these particular genres?
When you set out to write your works, there is certainly some research involved in the creation of these works. How do you go about the research process for your work?
How much fact do you incorporate in your fiction?
How do you know what is the right amount of fact to put in work?
In 2015, you joined the Department of Corrections as an officer - has this influenced your approach in writing your work?
Lastly, what is your goal in your writing work? What do you wish to impart to your readers?

Links:

James’ website: https://jamesmichelsbooks.com/
James’ books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/James-Edward-Michels/author/B08XN58X8R?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
James’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesemichels/

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Today, co-host Tete DePunk will be interviewing author and interviewer Brock Swinson, who reached out to our podcast. Brock Swinson is the author of Ink by the Barrel: Secrets from Prolific Writers.

He is also the interviewer for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, a publication dedicated since 1994 to educating and exploring the field of screenwriting and its creative minds at the helm. Additionally, Swinson hosts the podcast, Creative Principles, a podcast focused on discussion of the creative principle and key figures in the creative world today.

I’ve provided links to the Creative Screenwriting Magazine and the Creative Principle Podcast in the description. Throughout his career, Brock Swinson has gained an impressively thorough knowledge of the screenwriting world. He has had the opportunity to discuss indepth the creative principles and know-how of the field with some of the best minds in the industry.

Tete asks Brock the following questions:

How did you get into the field of creative screenwriting?
What challenges did you face in this particular industry?
How has screenwriting changed throughout the past 10 years?
Does AI, as some purport, threaten the agency and integrity of screenwriters today?
In your view, what were the factors that have led to the recent strikes from the Writers Guild of America? Have these factors been present for a long time standing?
Did you ever face set-backs in your career? If so, how did you overcome them?
How can aspiring screenwriters and writers get into the industry?
What advice would you impart to yourself when you first began in this field?

Links:

Brock’s Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/brockswinson/⁠
Creative Screenwriting Magazine: ⁠https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/author/Brock/2/⁠
Creative Principles Podcast: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/creative-principles/id1292130289⁠

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Host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (Fortunus Games) interviews author James Mitchell about his upcoming book, which will hit retail on September 19, 2023. His book is called “Musical Chairs: A 76-year-old’s quest to learn every instrument in the orchestra.” Find out more about it on James' website: https://jamesmitchellbooks.com/

James Mitchell was born in New York City, which nurtured his love of classical music from an early age. Professing little to no talent, however, he left the playing of music mostly to others until the writing of Musical Chairs.

For the 67 years that elapsed between music lessons, Mr. Mitchell was an actor, a Sales Manager for a ski company, President of a national advertising agency, a cowboy and wilderness outfitter, an educator, and co-founder of an NGO aiding women in Afghanistan.

Mr. Mitchell is working on two new books, and otherwise occupies his time going to concerts, playing music, tennis, cycling, and riding and driving horses. He lives in the country near Longmont, Colorado with his wife, some zebra finches, an old cat, and a few equines.

He is immensely proud and fond of his two grown offspring and has one very young grandson.

Imelda asks James the following questions (and more):

What prompted you to write this book?
In your bio, you said you always loved classical music. Growing up, how were you exposed to this genre of music and what did you particularly like about it?
Which instruments do you enjoy the most and why?
You mentioned you were an actor. Since acting is a form of art, did it influence how you saw music? Did it also influence your interest in writing?
Why did you have five careers before writing “Musical Chairs?” Sounds like a drifter to me.
Not many people start on a three year project when they are 76. Especially when they know next to nothing about it. Were you trying to prove something? To yourself? To others?
How many times did you think of bagging the whole thing during those three plus years?
You could have tackled something else, like taking just 12 lessons in 11 different languages and then be able to order a meal in each language at an ethnic restaurant. Why music?
The subject is serious, but the book has a lot of humor in it, much of it self-deprecating. Why did you do that?
Playing a classical music excerpt in just 12 lessons is quite a challenge, made more so by the week after week, month after month nature of the book. How much pressure did you feel to do well?

James’ upcoming site: https://jamesmitchellbooks.com/

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Today, host Fortunus Games talks to Wren Mafyrneen (Instagram: @wrenby_m) about their graphic novel, “The House on Caple Hill.” Wren appeared on many episodes in Season 1, but this is the first episode they’ve appeared on for Season 2! Wren has talked extensively about their plans and progress on “The House on Caple Hill.” Check out the links in the descriptions to see all of the “House on Caple Hill” episodes.

Wren's bio:

Wren Mafyrneen (they/them) is a graphic novelist, writer, and artist. Their main project is "The House on Caple Hill," a fantasy graphic novel in nine parts that explores the main character's journey to find pieces of themself scattered throughout the cosmos. Wren enjoys creating nouveau-style watercolor paintings and illustrations, dabbling in music ranging in styles from classical to classic rock, writing the occasional poem, and exploring the beaches and forests of their home near the Northeastern US coast.

Hi, Wren, it’s nice to have you back!

What were the most difficult parts of writing this book?
What were the easiest parts of writing this book?
Do the visuals of this book differ from previous books?
What are the main themes of this book?
Can you summarize the Book of Ib in five sentences? What is the beginning, climax, and end?

The artwork in the thumbnail is by Wren.

Watch all of “The House on Caple Hill” episodes here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTxVO2FXg_5zK28nzmkGcpF

Listen to all of “The House on Caple Hill” episodes here: https://www.podpage.com/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-writing/category/wren-mafyrneens-the-house-on-caple-hill/

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Hi, everyone. Today, we’re talking to artist and writer Carrie Knowles about her approach to visual art. This is part three of our interviews with Carrie — please check out episodes 211 and 212 for my previous discussions with her about writing fiction and non-fiction, respectively.

Carrie Knowles is a prolific award-winning author and arts advocate. Along with her nine books, she has published short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, and received numerous awards for her writing.

In addition to being a writer, she is also a visual artist. In 2017, she was invited to be one of seven international artists for a special exhibition in Brisbane, Australia. The seven of them were all artists who worked in more than one genre. The theme of the show was “The Inevitable Past”. They were tasked with the job of responding to the theme by bringing together their artwork with their other creative voice.

In thinking about what was inevitable about her own past, Carrie began writing about her father’s mother who died during his birth leaving many unanswered questions as to who she was and where she was going when she arrived at the Door of Hope (a home for unwed mothers in Macon, Georgia) badly beaten, unconscious, and very pregnant.

Here’s what the curator of the show wrote about Carrie’s work:

It has been asked 'is Carrie an author who aeates visual art, or an artist who writes?' For her, it is all part of the one thing. While her literary work has often dominated her creative endeavors, the multi-levelled cross-overs between these fields, though often subtle,are implicitly present.

Growing up in middle America with a high achieving father, who was also blind, her drive to do her own thing (be a writer and artist), while rejecting all perceived limitations, WAS almost inevitable. Initially inspired to paint, parental pressure to do something less 'self·indulgent' saw her commence tertiary study in Physical Therapies, before switching to an Engllsh major — Carrie the author was born. Journalism, writing education papers, and teaching (writing and art) followed before postgraduate studies in sociology and psychology.

Yet throughout, her creative expression in both literary and visual forms continued. Now the author of five intimately moving books (fiction and non-fiction, in which the constant passsage of time is a pivotal context), innumerable articles, short stories, poetry and social commentaries — with a growing number of awards — her equally emotive visual art has always been nascently entwined with her literary practice, and each is increasingly informed by and reflective of the other.

To read more about how writing about her own inevitable past developed into a novel, and how the artwork she presented in Brisbane became a 27 foot-long hand dyed and embroidered linen shroud, go to Carrie’s website: https://www.cjanework.com/the-inevitable-past

In the past two episodes, we talked to Carrie about her approach to writing fiction and non-fiction. In this episode, we’ll be talking about Carrie’s approach to visual arts.

What is your favorite medium to work with? (i.e., watercolour, colored pencil, etc.)
What are your favorite subjects in art?
Who are your favorite artists?
What are your main sources of inspiration?
In your view, what is the relationship of visual arts and writing?

You can purchase and see some of Carrie’s art through Marguerite Guitreau’s online store: https://www.chairish.com/shop/margueriteguitreau

Marguerite Guitreau’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marguerite_guitreau/

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Today, host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (@fortunusgames) talks to artist and writer Carrie Knowles about her approach to writing non-fiction. Check out our previous episode, ep 211, about her approach to writing fiction.

Carrie Knowles is a prolific award-winning author and arts advocate.

Along with her nine books, she has published short stories, newspaper, and magazine articles, and received numerous awards for her writing.

She was named the North Carolina Piedmont Laureate for Short Fiction in 2014.

Carrie has published five novels: Lillian’s Garden, Ashoan’s Rug, A Garden Wall in Provence, The Inevitable Past, and A Musical Affair, as well as Black Tie Optional, a collection of 17 of her short stories. Her memoir: The Last Childhood: A Family Story of Alzheimer's, has been described as a “must read” for family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.

During her time as the 2014 Piedmont Laureate, conducting writing workshops across five counties in North Carolina, she wrote a writing workbook aimed at providing the basic tools a new writer would need to get started: A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write Stories from Start to Finish.

She writes a personal perspectives column for Psychology Today, Shifting Forward, and has recently published a collection of the first 50 stories from her column titled: Shifting Forward: Fifty Reflections on Everyday Life.

To learn more about Carrie, go to her website: www.cjanework.com

Last episode, we talked to Carrie about her approach to writing fiction. In this episode, we’ll be talking about Carrie’s approach to writing non-fiction.

In this episode, Imelda asks Carrie these questions:

What prompted you to start writing non-fiction?
What is the difference between the facts as truth v.s. the emotional truth?
How do the basic tools of writing good fiction apply to non-fiction?
Why might you want to move non-fiction to fiction with an emphasis on the power of narrative to build a story?
Do you have any general writing tips for all writers, whether they are writing fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies, or marketing copy?

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Today, co-hosts Tete DePunk and R.N. Roveleh review Christopher Nolan's movie, "Oppenheimer" (2023). Find out why both of them loved it so much!

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Today, host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (@fortunusgames) talks to artist and writer Carrie Knowles about her approach to writing fiction. We will continue our conversation with her in episodes 212 and 213, where we’ll talk about her approach to writing non-fiction and visual art, respectively.

Carrie Knowles is a prolific award-winning author and arts advocate.

Along with her nine books, she has published short stories, newspaper, and magazine articles, and received numerous awards for her writing.

She was named the North Carolina Piedmont Laureate for Short Fiction in 2014.

Carrie has published five novels: Lillian’s Garden, Ashoan’s Rug, A Garden Wall in Provence, The Inevitable Past, and A Musical Affair, as well Black Tie Optional, a collection of 17 of her short stories. Her memoir: The Last Childhood: A Family Story of Alzheimer's, has been described as a “must read” for family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.

During her time as the 2014 Piedmont Laureate, conducting writing workshops across five counties in North Carolina, she wrote a writing workbook aimed at providing the basic tools a new writer would need to get started: A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write Stories from Start to Finish.

She writes a personal perspectives column for Psychology Today, Shifting Forward, and has recently published a collection of the first 50 stories from her column titled: Shifting Forward: Fifty Reflections on Everyday Life.

To learn more about Carrie, go to her website: www.cjanework.com

In this episode, we’ll be talking about Carrie’s approach to writing fiction. Imelda asks her the following questions:

Which fiction genre did you start out with, and what have been your primary sources of inspiration for your fiction?
What is the difference between the facts as truth v.s. the emotional truth?
How did you find writing “A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write Stories From Start-To-Finish”? What were your main sources of inspiration for creating that guide? What kind of feedback have you received from readers using it?
In 2006, you bought a small office building in downtown Raleigh in North Carolina, in the United States. You then named the building the Free Range Studio and inscribed the following on the wall: “Creativity should have no boundaries and dreams no fences.” Its purpose was to provide office space to a broad range of creatives. You must have met many interesting and inspiring people between 2006 and 2021, when you sold the studio. Can you tell us some of the most inspirational moments in the history of the Free Range Studio?
As an experienced writer, what tips would you give to amateur fiction writers just starting out?
How did you get your fiction books published? What tips do you have for writers who want to get published, but don’t know how to get started?

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Today, co-host R.N. Roveleh interviews author Peggy Payne about her books. She asks Peggy the following questions:

1) You’ve just released a new novel entitled, “My Life of Earth and Elsewhere”, a Young Adult story with a 16-year-old protagonist, Darcy. Which is interesting, because your previous books, Sister India, Cobalt Blue, Revelation, are adult fiction, with heavy themes and very mature experiences. What inspired you to write a Young Adult book?

2) Darcy, your protagonist, in spite of her supernatural experiences, is a very relatable character. How do you approach creating relatable and authentic teenage characters?

3) What are some of the main themes that you’ve tackled in this book?

4) How do you balance entertainment and storytelling with addressing important issues or conveying meaningful messages in your Young Adult novels?

5) Young Adult fiction usually has a more poignant didactic purpose than other genres, since it’s supposed to introduce young readers to certain topics or to educate them. Do you think there is more pressure on a Young Adult writer when tackling sensitive topics? More censorship, in this sense?

6) You know quite a bit about writing sex, based on your previous books - it is, after all, one of the main themes in Cobalt Blue. What makes a good sex scene?

7) Do you have a unique approach to sex or romance scenes in Young Adult, since Young Adult is mostly for a younger audience?

8) Your books are heavily spiritual, and “My Life of Earth and Elsewhere” also features supernatural experiences. What draws you to this theme?

9) How would you describe the supernatural? What is the line between supernatural and fantasy for you?

10) What was the most challenging part about writing this book? How about the most fun part?

11) What advice would you give to aspiring authors who want to write Young Adult novels?

Peggy’s website: https://www.peggypayne.com/

Peggy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggypayne

Peggy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Peggy-Payne/author/B001HPQRO0?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

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In this episode, host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games) interviews a special guest: Andrew Steeves, co-owner of Gaspereau Press, a literary publisher and printer based in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Imelda and one of the podcast co-hosts, Tete DePunk, first became aware of Gaspereau Press when we went to the Fisher Small and Fine Press fair at the University of Toronto back in September 2022. We were immediately struck by the originality and beauty of its books. According to the Gaspereau Press website (which we’ve linked to in the description), the press “employs an unusual mixture of techniques & technologies in its book production, ranging from traditional letterpress printing using metal type and photopolymer plates to modern offset lithographic printing using customized digital type.”

As for Andrew himself, he was born in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. After taking degrees in Criminology and English, he settled near Kentville, Nova Scotia, and founded Gaspereau Press with Gary Dunfield. He spends his time reading, writing, editing, designing, typesetting, printing, binding, marketing, selling and talking about books.

Among his recent limited-edition letterpress books is Literarum Ex Arboribus: An Exuberant Showing of the Wood Type at Gaspereau Press (2020), a three-year undertaking that resulted in the creation of over 150 wood type specimens.

Imelda asks Andrew the following questions in this podcasts:

How is it like to run Gaspereau Press?
What does being a small press publisher mean to you? What's the philosophy behind your publishing program?
How have you been able to attract so many talented writers?
Your books have a unique style - who designs these books? Why are these particular styles chosen?
Where do you See Gaspereau Press 5 years from now?
What challenges do you face in the press/publishing market?

Links:

Check out Gaspereau Press’ website: http://www.gaspereau.com/
Gaspereau Press on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaspereaupress/
Gaspereau Press on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gaspereaupress
Gaspereau Press on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gaspereaupress

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Today, R. N. Roveleh, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, will be interviewing writer Ryan Keating. Four of his poems have appeared in our literary magazine “The Unconventional Courier."

Ryan Keating is a writer, pastor, and winemaker on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. His work can be found in publications such as Saint Katherine Review, Ekstasis Magazine, Amethyst Review, Macrina Magazine, Fathom, Vocivia, Roi Fainéant, and Miras Dergi, where he is a regular contributor in English and Turkish.

R.N. Roveleh asks Ryan the following questions:

You live in Cyprus now. Could you tell us more about your connection with Turkey and North Cyprus?
Why Cyprus? Is the Mediterranean area a tangential area between classical culture, the European center of Christianity and Jerusalem? (Are you inspired by classical culture in any sense?)
A poet's relationship with nature is usually a strong one, and Mediterranean nature is exquisite - what inspires you the most?
How would you define ekphrastic poetry and what is your approach to it?
What does “depth” mean to you? And how do you achieve it in your poetry?
Could you tell us more about the form of the poetry you’re writing? The rhyme, the rhythm. Why do you think that your chosen form fits the themes of your poetry?
Could you tell us about your experiences with monasticism?
Poetry is a means of negotiating the relationship of the lyrical self with divinity. How does your spirituality influence your writing and inspiration?

Check out the poems Ryan submitted to The Unconventional Courier: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/4-poems-by-ryan-keating

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Hi, everyone. Today, it’s just me, Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast.

Today, I’ll be reviewing a book that I read last year, “A Marker To Measure Drift” by Alexander Maksik. I found it on discount through Chapters Indigo back in October 2022 and couldn’t believe I only had to pay 4.99 for such a great book.

My “A Marker To Measure Drift” review on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5017696398

On Substack: https://fortunusgames.substack.com/p/a-marker-to-measure-drift

On Medium: https://medium.com/@fortunus.games/book-review-a-marker-to-measure-drift-by-alexander-maksik-8929fdfb4629

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Today, host Fortunus Games and co-host R.N. Roveleh list 10 tips for determining whether you're writing for escapism. This is an important topic because I think all of us have struggled to balance escapism and writing.

Our 10 tips are:

Does your story have a structure or is it just brainstorming?
Is your story structured around a theme or themes?
Is your protagonist yourself?
Is their love interest idealized?
Are you writing only what you know?
Are you avoiding topics that need research?
Is your writing avoiding subjects that you don't want to think about?
Are you trying to improve your writing?
Would you read this book (if the characters/setting were different)?
Think carefully: what is your main goal when you write?

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Hi, everyone. Today, it’s just me, Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast.

Today, I’ll be reviewing a book that Tete DePunk and I read last year, “A Whole Life” by Robert Seethaler. I found it on the House of Anansi Press’ website and we were immediately struck by how powerful it was.

My GoodReads review of “A Whole Life”: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5033992611

Read my “A Whole Life” review on Substack: https://fortunusgames.substack.com/p/book-review-a-whole-life-by-robert

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message

Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews author Nick Young, who submitted an impressive range of his respective stories, “Oasis” in Issue 5, “Alabama” in Issue 6, and his most recent story, “Boomerang” to Issue 7 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” Links to these works are at the bottom of this description.

About Nick Young:

Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent.

His writing has appeared in more than two dozen publications including the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Fiction on the Web, Bookends Review, the Nonconformist Magazine, Sandpiper, the San Antonio Review, Flyover Magazine, Pigeon Review, Fiction Junkies, Typeslash Review, The Best of CaféLit 11 and Vols. I and II of the Writer Shed Stories anthologies. He lives outside Chicago.

You can find him on Twitter: @NickYou87166031 and Instagram: @zenblues

Tete asks Nick the following questions in this episode:

Nick, your work delves into the heart of human nature and social issues. Did your time as a CBS News Correspondent influence your approach to writing?
Did your career as a News Correspondent give you the necessary structure for your writing work?
When you approach a story, do you focus on the plot, the character, or the theme you want to convey to the readers?
When you are tackling a heavy issue in your work, how do you face the challenge of telling that particular story or issue?
Lastly, what advice would you give to writers out there?

Nick Young’s works featured in The Unconventional Courier:

https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/oasis
https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/alabama
https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/boomerang

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Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games), the host of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing podcast, interviews two very special guests: authors and educators Elizabeth and Nancy Jorgensen, a writing and publishing mother-and-daughter duo.

Noting a lack of middle-grade and young adult books featuring female sports heroes, they collaborated with their Olympian sister and daughter to inspire the next generation. As a result, they co-authored Gwen Jorgensen: USA’s First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete and Go, Gwen, Go: A Family's Journey to Olympic Gold.

As a brief introduction, Elizabeth Jorgensen is an award-winning high school language arts teacher and the author of Hacking Student Learning Habits (Times 10 Publications). Nancy Jorgensen is a retired choral music teacher and the author of two music education books.

Today, we’ll be talking about how Elizabeth and Nancy publish as a team. Imelda (Fortunus Games) asked them the following questions:

Why do you think there is a lack of books on female athletes, and how did you feel about this as the family of a triathlon champion?
Why do you think it is important to tell Gwen's story? How will her story impact the younger generations?
How did the collaboration between you work? What was the writing process like and how did you divide the workload?
How did you publish your book? How did you find your publisher? Did you find them online or in-person? How was the editing process like once you signed a contract with the publisher? How much freedom did you get to edit the book?
You’ve also written a book about Korean poetry, Sijo: Korea’s Poetry Form.
What inspired you to write about sijo?
How was the writing and publishing process compared to the writing process for Gwen Jorgensen: USA’s First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete?

Get the Jorgensens’ books on Amazon:

Go: Gwen, Go: A Family's Journey to Olympic Gold
Gwen Jorgensen: USA's First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete
Sijo: Korea's Poetry Form (Parkyoung)
Nancy’s choral education book: Things They Never Taught You in Choral Methods

Purchased signed copies of Gwen Jorgensen: USA’s First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete: https://www.booksco.com/signed-copy-gwen-jorgensen

Free educator guide for Gwen Jorgensen: USA’s First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete: https://download.m-m-sports.com/extras/GwenJorgensen/Teacher_Guide.pdf

The Jorgensens’ websites:

Elizabeth’s website: https://lizjorgensen.weebly.com/
Nancy’s website: https://nancyjorgensen.weebly.com/
Gwen’s website: https://www.gwenjorgensen.com/

For author visits, email nancy.l.jorgensen@gmail.com or elizabeth.jorgensen@gmail.com

Websites: lizjorgensen.weebly.com and nancyjorgensen.weebly.com

On Twitter: @LyzaJo and @NancyJorgensen

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message

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Today, R. N. Roveleh, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing and co-editor of the literary magazine The Unconventional Courier, interviews writer Laura Cooney.

Her short-story “Musically Challenged. Challenged Musically” was published in our December Issue of The Unconventional Courier. It is a powerful and touching story of someone who is in love with music, but is tone deaf. You can read it here.

Laura is a writer from Edinburgh with publications for both children and adults online and in print anthologies. Her recent side projects include attending spoken word events and collaboratively creating a children's poetry zine.

When she's not doing lots of writing you'll find her with her children as close to the sea as possible, there will be ice-cream!

You can find Laura Cooney’s blog at www.lozzawriting.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @lozzawriting.

R.N. Roveleh asks Laura the following questions:

Your story, “Musically Challenged”, speaks about the protagonist’s relationship to music, how music seeps into every aspect of their life and being. Let me start by asking you this: what was your inspiration for the story?
What inspires you to write, in general?
Have you got any favourite themes, types of characters, styles that you prefer to insert into your stories?
How would you say that your job as teacher plays into your vocation as a writer?
You published a zine with a team of writers and artists. I’m really curious to learn more, please tell us more about it. Do you think you’ll collaborate together again for similar projects in the future?
What projects are you currently working on?
I know your life is busy on all fronts. How do you make room to immerse yourself in writing? Have you got a writing schedule, any "writing rituals", or is it more an impulsive act for you?

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Today, host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games, IG/Twitter @fortunusgames) will be interviewing author and podcaster Kyler Bingham, who hosts the podcast, “Salt Lake Dirt,” where he interviews many different creatives, including authors, movie directors, and actors.

Me and Tete DePunk, a co-host of this podcast, have been interviewed on his podcast, specifically on episode 97, where we talked about how we met, our creative works, Tete’s Christian fundamentalist homeschooling experiences, and more. If you want to check out the episode, I’ve provided a link in the description.

So, on to the focus of our podcast: Kyler Bingham.

Kyler Bingham is an educator, writer and the host of Salt Lake Dirt, a podcast where he interviews writers, filmmakers, and musicians. He lives in Salt Lake City with his three dogs Rooney, Cosmo, and Mabel.

You can follow Kyler’s podcast on Instagram and TikTok @saltlakedirt and on his website at www.saltlakedirt.com.

I, Imelda Wei Ding Lo (Fortunus Games), asked Kyler the following questions:

When I was on your podcast with Tete, you mentioned you were writing a book. What kind of book are you writing? What genre is it?
Where did you get the idea for this book?
How have you been writing it? Do you write it whenever you’re inspired, or do you have a set schedule?
What is the target audience of this book? How will you market it?
How do you find talking about the specifics of a project?

Links:

Kyler’s social media: Instagram and TikTok @saltlakedirt and on his website at www.saltlakedirt.com.
Listen to Episode 97 of “Salt Lake Dirt,” where Kyler interviewed me and Tete DePunk: https://saltlakedirt.com/podcast/f/fortunus-games-tete-depunk
Noah Hawley: Before the Fall: https://www.amazon.com/Before-Fall-Noah-Hawley/dp/1455561797
Nic Pizzolato: Galveston: https://www.amazon.com/Galveston-Nic-Pizzolatto/dp/0751557056/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=galveston&qid=1680028783&s=books&sprefix=galve%2Cstripbooks%2C259&sr=1-5
Jonathan Ames: You Were Never Really Here: https://www.amazon.com/You-Were-Never-Really-Here/dp/1782275258/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=you+were+never+really+here&qid=1680028835&s=books&sprefix=you+were+never+really%2Cstripbooks%2C158&sr=1-1
Jerry Stahl: Permanent Midnight; I, Fatty: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jerry-Stahl/author/B000APM6XY?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
Bruce Wagner: https://www.brucewagner.la/books
Tony DuShane: Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk: https://www.tonydushane.com/

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Before the Fall

Today, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, will be interviewing the electrifying poet and author Indranil, who submitted his collection of respective poems to Issues 2, 3, and 5 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.”

His collection of evocative and striking works is often inspired by arresting modern artistic masterpieces by 20th-century greats such as ReneMagritte and Edvard Munch. Check out his works using the links at the bottom.

Indranil Ghosh is a Ph.D. student in applied mathematics from India, currently living in New Zealand.

Highly inspired by Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, and Robert Frost, whenever he is not working, one may find him either reading classic poems or listening to music from the 70s and 80s.

His poems appear in the Aphelion webzine, The Unconventional Courier, Roi Faineant Literary Press, etc.

You can follow Indranil Ghosh on Twitter and Instagram: @indraghosh314.

Tete asks Indranil the following questions:

What first inspired you to write poetry?
How did you draw inspiration from art to create your striking poems?
How do the images from these artworks inspire the poem? Do you form the idea of a concept or emotion/theme when you first see an artwork?
Who are some of the poets and artists that inspire you?
You mentioned musical artists also inspire you- how does their work inspire you? Is there a difference between how musical artists inspire you vs. visual artists inspire you?
How do you put the emotions and thoughts of the figures in your poem into words?

Indranil’s works for TUC:

Are We There Yet? : https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/are-we-there-yet

3 Poems: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/3-poem-by-indranil-ghosh

Four Poems: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/four-poems-2

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In this episode, R. N. Roveleh, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing and co-editor of the literary magazine The Unconventional Courier, interviews writer Gershom Gerneth Mabaquiao.

He is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. His works touch on the darker recesses of the human psyche and Philippine folklore. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

Gershom's short story, A Heaven so True for Saint Peter, appeared in The Unconventional Courier in October 2022. His prose is deep and hard-hitting, an incursion into the dark side of human nature that isn't afraid to dive into heavy themes, analyze them and make them come alive with a touch of magical realism.

You can find Gershom Mabaquiao on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gershom.gerneth/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gershom.gerneth/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gershomgerneth

R.N. Roveleh asks Gershom the following questions:

What are some themes that you like exploring in your prose?
Censorship is something that writers who tackle such taboo topics always have at the back of their mind. Especially in today’s world of Trigger Warnings. I’m not only talking about being censored by the book industry or by a more sensitive readership, but also about the writing process - about censoring yourself, about choosing how far you want to go when describing such topics. Can you tell us more about this?
Writing is very often not about what you write, but about how you write it. How do you approach writing a difficult topic? And how do you balance saying what you want to say with directing your reader’s emotions throughout the story?
What kind of fiction do you like and find inspiring?
How would you define magical realism, and how does it appear in your prose?
Are there any literary projects that you’re working on at the moment? Can you share with us some of your literary plans for the future?

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In this episode, co-hosts of “The Nuts and Bolts of Writing,” Tete DePunk and R.N. Roveleh (a.k.a. Helevorn) analyze a movie that Fortunus Games and Tete previously discussed on this podcast: Zack Snyder’s “The Man of Steel” (2013).

Tete DePunk and R.N. Roveleh talk about their impressions of the movies, why their perspectives are different, and how the movie meets (or doesn’t meet) their standards and expectations.

Tete Depunk's social media:

@tete.depunk on Instagram
@punk_tete on Twitter

R.N. Roveleh's social media:

@helevorn_bor on Instagram
@NRoveleh on Twitter

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In this episode, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews poet Ali Ashhar, who submitted several of his poems, including “Life’s Lore” to Issue 5 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” He also submitted his quartet of poems, including “Evasion”, to Issue 6 of The Unconventional Courier.

Ali Ashhar’s works featured in The Unconventional Courier:

https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/life-s-lore
https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/three-poems-2

Ali Ashhar is a poet, short story writer, and columnist. He is the author of the poetry collection, Mirror of Emotions.

Ali Ashhar has won four awards for his work during his writing career. His works appear in Indian Review, The Raven Review, Bosphorus Review of Books, among others.

You can follow Ali on Twitter: @AliAshhar11

Tete asks Ali the following questions in this episode:

When did you start writing poetry? Which poets have been your inspirations?
What is the best advice you could give other writers about writing or publishing?
Do you have a daily or weekly writing schedule, or do you write only when you are inspired?
How well do you work under pressure?

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In this episode, R. N. Roveleh (a.k.a. Helevorn), one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews writer Ashwini Gangal. Two of her short stories have appeared in our literary magazine “The Unconventional Courier”, namely Brown Gaze and Hotoli and Botoli. Her writings go deep into the human mind, and just when you think you understand the protagonist in their complexity, the story takes an unexpected turn and strikes you with the width of what there is yet to know.

After completing a rigorous master's degree in clinical psychology, Ashwini Gangal switched fields completely and worked as a media journalist at afaqs! India's most trusted b2b dot com, for 12 years, her specialty being advertising-and-marketing.

In mid-2022, she moved on from afaqs! to pursue her passion - poetry, fiction writing, academia and scholarship. She is currently enjoying a creatively energizing sabbatical, as she nurses her neuroses, eats through her savings and tries not to go completely mad. She has books to help her with that, as she is an insatiable reader.

Her own works of fiction have appeared in numerous publications including Danse Macabre, Piker Press, The Bangalore Review, India Currents, The Hooghly Review, and many more.

Check out Ashwini's stories for our literary zine, "The Unconventional Couirer":

Brown Gaze
Hotoli and Botoli

You can find out more on Ashwini's website, www.ashwinigangal.com.

R.N. Roveleh asked Ashwini the following questions:

One thing I love about your stories is that they blend realism – a minute attention to details in painting society and human nature – with an unexpected surrealism, and many of them have a dark edge. You take your stories in a bold direction and give them a thrilling twist while keeping the focus on character psychology. (Which I think is quite rare, we don’t often encounter this with contemporary prose. We either see a focus on the twists- a plot-oriented story, or a more static and mundane piece about human experiences). So I think your style is truly striking. Which makes me curious to know: what inspires you to write like this?
I know you love reading. Have you got any authors or works of fiction that you draw upon when creating your own stories? (Can you say that you’ve learned something from each author and book you’ve read?)
You have, so far, published with us the story “Brown Gaze” (a wonderful short piece about cultural identity). What was your inspiration for the story? Given that it’s more rooted in the real world than some of your other stories, would you say it’s more personal to you?
Your next story which will appear in The Unconventional Courier is called “Hotoli and Botoli”. And, without giving any spoilers, I can say that, although it is also centered on the experiences of two women, it is very different from “Brown Gaze”. It has an almost mythical feel. What was the inspiration behind that one?
How would you describe your writing process? Is it a more structured approach, like a writing schedule, or a more impulsive one, relying more on striking bouts of inspiration?
I mentioned how your writings are deeply psychological. And I know, for one, that you’re interested in mental health. Could you tell us more about this? How does this reflect into your art?
Another interest of yours is past pandemics. Which is interesting because even though everybody, I daresay, has had the chance to reflect on the topic of pandemics, lately, you go a bit deeper, don’t you?
Where do you see your writing taking you in the years ahead?
What are your current projects?
Because this is a podcast where we also talk about how to approach certain aspects of the writing process: Have you got any advice for writers, especially those who want to blend the psychological with the surreal?

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Hi, everyone. Today, it’s just me, Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast.

Today, we’ll be talking about a topic I’ve been thinking about since last September, when I met Tete Depunk in real life for the first time and we realized something at the Toronto Zoo. It was a grey, dreary day, and we were going to talk about our characters when we realized we didn’t want to. Instead, there were so many things happening in front of us that our previous obsession with characters seemed to pale in comparison.

So, this prompted me to make a podcast episode about the differences between writing a story or graphic novel and creating “original characters,” in deviantArt parlance.

Tete and I explore the following questions:

What do you think is the difference between writing a novel or creating a graphic novel versus just creating “original characters”?
What is the fine line between writing a character-centric story and becoming obsessed with characters to the point you’re using them as emotional crutches?
How can you avoid unhealthily becoming obsessed with characters?

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Host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games) talks to author DC Diamondopolous, whose short story, “Life with Angie,” appeared in Issue Five of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.”

DC Diamondopolous is an award-winning short story and flash fiction writer with over four hundred stories published internationally in print and online magazines, literary journals, and anthologies.

Some of the awards she‘s won include first place at the Honest Story Telling Challenge of 2022, two Pushcart Award Nominations, and two Best Of the Net Nominations. She’s also a three-time finalist in ScreenCrafts Short Story Contest (which includes “Life with Angie”).

You can see more of her award-winning works on her site, Dcdiamondopolous.com.

DC's stories have appeared in: Progenitor, 34th Parallel, So It Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, Lunch Ticket, and others. DC’s recently released collection Captured Up Close (20th Century Short-Short Stories) has two Pushcart Prize-nominated stories and one nominated for Best of the Net Anthology.

Her first collection of stories was Stepping Up. She lives on the California coast with her wife and animals.

In this episode, we’ll be talking to DC about her latest book, which you can order on Amazon, Captured Up Close: 20th Century Short-Short Stories. We will also talk about her approach to writing and what she’s working on now.

Imelda asks DC the following questions:

Can you tell us about Captured Up Close: 20th Century Short-Short Stories? What kind of short stories have you included in this collection? What prompted you to write them?
Why do you like to write historical fiction?
What is the approach that you take?
Do you also write on current topics?
Why do you think it’s important to have a weekly writers' group?

Links:

“Life with Angie” by DC Diamondopolous: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/life-with-angie

DC’s most recent book, Captured Up Close: 20th Century Short-Short Stories: Amazon.com: Captured Up Close: 20th Century Short-Short Stories: 9798986273129: Diamondopolous, DC: Books

DC’s first book, “Stepping Up”: https://www.amazon.com/Stepping-Up-DC-Diamondopolous/dp/1914130057/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=stepping+up+by+dc+diamondopolous&qid=1628516027&s=books&sr=1-1

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Hi, everyone! Today, me and Tete talk about a topic that is extremely important to both of us: how to stop sexualizing our characters.

For the longest time, Tete and I have been sexualizing several of our male characters. For me, it was Joel Farber from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel,” and for Tete, it was the protagonist of her novel, “70 Fierce Years,” Andrei Danilovich Novokshonov.

Sexualizing your characters can have a lot of detrimental effects on the writing process as well as on your life, if taken to the extreme. We explore this by asking the following questions:

Why did we sexualize our characters?
How did we wean ourselves off sexualizing our characters?
When are we tempted to sexualize our characters? How can we stop it?
What is the connection between sexualizing your characters and focus? Does sexualizing your characters detract from the writing process?

The artwork for this thumbnail is from the romance novel, "Royally Yours" by Emma Chase.

Read Tete’s “70 Fierce Years” (draft version) on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/70-Fierce-Years/info

Read my “The Book of Joel” on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

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Today, we have an amazing guest: writer and podcast Sarina Langer!

I, Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games), have previously been on her podcast, The Writing Sparrow podcast, which is all about writing, publishing, and marketing your book. It’s a great resource for indie writers of all stripes. On her podcast, I talked about how to write and publish graphic novels, since I’ve self-published two graphic novels, “The Book of Joel” and “Sam in New York.” I’ve included a link in the description.

So, onto our guest’s bio! Sarina Langer is a dark fantasy author of both epic and urban paranormal novels.

In her free time, she usually reads one audiobook, one ebook, and one paperback (one for every occasion), plays video games, and obsesses over mythology. She has a weakness for books on writing and pretty words. You can follow her on Twitter @sarina_langer.

I, Imelda Wei Ding Lo (Fortunus Games), asked Sarina the following questions:

Can you tell us about your current projects? What books are you working on, and which will be released in the next couple of months?
How would you describe the process of releasing a book? How is the process of finding an editor like, and what should your relationship with your editor be like?
How do you find releasing a digital book versus releasing a physical copy? How is releasing an audiobook like?
How do you approach marketing when it comes to your books? How do you pump up hype for your books, and what role do social media and newsletters play in marketing? Are physical events like book fairs useful in this time and age? Are they worth the cost, in your view?

Links:

The first book of Sarina’s “Chaos of Esta Anderson” series, “A Dream of Death and Magic”: https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Death-Magic-Chaos-Anderson-ebook/dp/B0B7JG7LZF
Sarina’s podcast, The Writing Sparrow Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1356037
Sarina’s Twitter: @sarina_langer

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Today, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, will be interviewing poet and author Leslie Cairns, who submitted her poem “Family Trees”,” to Issue 2 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” She also submitted her short story, “Owl, Lunar, Twig” to Issue 3 of The Unconventional Courier.

Links to both of her works are at the bottom of the description.

Leslie's Bio:

Leslie Cairns (She/her): Leslie Cairns holds an MA degree in English Rhetoric. She lives in Denver, Colorado. She is a Pushcart Prize Nomination for 2022 in the Short Story category ('Owl, Lunar, Twig'). She was an honorable mention in Flash 405's call in Exposition Review (2022). She also won a Valentine's Day Writing Competition with Short Story Today (2023). Her poetry chapbook about eating disorders and therapy, titled 'The Food is the Fodder', is available for purchase and to read through Bottlecap Press.

You can follow Leslie on Twitter @starbucksgirly

Tete DePunk asked Leslie the following questions in this interview:

What inspired you to write “Owl, Lunar, Twig”?
What inspired you to write, “A Menagerie of Animals”?
You said that for both of these works, you had to overcome doubts when writing these respective works.
How did you overcome the doubt? Do you often face doubt when you set out to create a work?
How would you advise others to overcome doubt in their creative or personal journey?
What is the best encouragement you’ve encountered in your creative journey?

Leslie’s works for "The Unconventional Courier"

Family Trees: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/family-trees

Owl, Lunar, Twig: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/owl-lunar-twig

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We’ve had some amazing author interviews lately, and we’re going to receiving even more. Before we dive into more interviews, however, let’s pause to talk about the importance of organization - for this podcast and for writing more generally.

In this episode, I talk about why I'm not going to post the Fortunus Games tarot deck analysis videos for the podcast (but they will continue being available on my personal Instagram @fortunusgames and YouTube channel) and what my next steps for "Sam in New York" and "The Book of Joel" will be now that I've become more organized in my personal and creative lives.

Links:

Fortunus Games tarot deck

Sam in New York

The Book of Joel

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In this episode, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews writer Thomas Misuraca, who submitted his short story, “Words Enough and Time,” to Issue 6 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” I’ve provided a link to the story in the description.

Tom Misuraca studied Writing, Publishing and Literature at Emerson College in his home town of Boston. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he splits his time between writing and graphic design. Over 120 of his short stories have appeared in publications worldwide. In 2021, his story, Giving Up the Ghosts, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Two of his novels have been published, including the vampire parody novel, Lifestyles of the Damned. He self-published a collection of his early short stories entitled If You Read This, You Will Die.

He is also a multi-award winning playwright with over 150 short plays and 13 full-lengths produced globally. His musical, Geeks!, was produced Off-Broadway in May 2019. This year, his full-length play, In Dogs We Trust won second place in The Robert J. Pickering/J.R. Colbeck Award for Playwriting Excellence. He won the award in 2014 for his superhero nursing home play, Golden Age, which will have its West Coast premiere at The Tehachapi Community Theatre this June.

You can follow Tom's Twitter @GeeksMusical and Instagram @tmisuraca.

Tete asks Tom the following questions in this podcast:

How do you decide if a story is going to be a play or a piece of prose?
Do you ever find they can be interchangeable?
Do you prefer writing dialogue or descriptions?
How does the creative process differ between the two?

Tom’s short story, “Words Enough and Time”: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/words-enough-and-time

Tom’s social media:

Twitter: @GeeksMusical, Instagram: @tmisuraca

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Hi, everyone! Today, we have a guest, Cynane Shay, the author of an upcoming book about fundamentalist Christianity in the United States, “Taking Off the Tinfoil Hat.” You can find her on Instagram @taking.off.the.tinfoil.hat and on her website, http://takingoffthetinfoilhat.com/.

Cynane grew up in a small conservative town in Florida. She grew up alongside many fundamentalist Christians, many of whom now believe in conspiracy theories about Biblical end times, QAnon, and the Flat Earth.

In “Taking Off the Tinfoil Hat,” she seeks to explore how these crackpot conspiracies led to the dismantling of her patriotism, evangelicalism, and her entire worldview. Her book will also be a warning commentary on the increasing polarization in the U.S. and how current events eerily parallel historical Fascism.

I, Imelda Wei Ding Lo (Fortunus Games), asked Cynane Shay the following questions:

How did you get the idea to write this book?
How have you been writing this book? Do you follow a set schedule? Or do you write whenever you have energy or inspiration?
Research is often the hardest part of writing a book, especially non-fiction. How do you find the process of doing research for your book? As you told me, you are an engineer. Do you think your scientific background has helped you with finding sources for this book?
Your book has a very important message about the increasing polarization of politics and beliefs in the U.S. How will you be marketing your book? Will you be going on any talk shows and podcasts?

Follow Cynane on Instagram @taking.off.the.tinfoil.hat and on her website, http://takingoffthetinfoilhat.com/.

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Watch this on YouTube.

Read the transcript of this episode.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you are having a great time with those you love, which can be your significant other, parents, children, and other family members and friends.

We will be talking about a subject that me and the other co-hosts have been thinking a lot about: How to write romance in a non-escapist manner.

Listen to learn tips for writing non-escapist romance from co-host R.N. Roveleh and myself!

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Hi, everyone! Today, we have a guest, Tejaswinee Roychowdhury, who was one of our contributors to Issue Three of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” She submitted the thought-provoking short story, “Where Does The River Go?” which is linked below.

Tejaswinee is a writer, poet, and artist from West Bengal, India. Her fiction and poetry have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2023, her work has been or is scheduled to be widely published such as in Dreich Magazine, Muse India, Paddler Press, Amity (Hawakal, 2022), The Unconventional Courier, Roi Fainéant, Taco Bell Quarterly, Kitaab, and more.

She is also the founder of The Hooghly Review, Tejaswinee is also a lawyer and can be found tweeting at @TejaswineeRC.

I, Imelda Wei Ding Lo (Fortunus Games), asked Tejaswinee the following questions:

What were you inspired by when you wrote your story for The Unconventional Courier, “Where Does The River Go?”
What books and themes inspired you the most as a writer?
You are a lawyer (as am I). Has your legal practice and studies influenced your approach to writing? If so, how?
What kind of stories do you plan to write in the future? Will you be publishing any books?

Tejaswinee’s Twitter: @TejaswineeRC

Her literary journal, The Hooghly Review: https://www.thehooghlyreview.com/

Read Tejaswinee’s short story for Issue Three of “The Unconventional Courier”: “Where Does The River Go?” https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/where-does-the-river-go

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Hi, everyone! Today, we’re airing an extra episode, which is also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HrxnePtKegI

This episode is not about writing, but about fundamentalist Christian homeschooling, which we’ve previously talked about in Episode 183: The Dark Side of Religious Homeschool in the United States - With Tete DePunk. You can watch that Episode 183 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l7IEQHiUq74

In this episode, I interview Tete DePunk (@tete.depunk on IG) and Wren (@wrenby_m on IG), another homeschool graduate. Tete and Wren rip into the horrors of Christian fundamentalist homeschool and how the Christian propaganda and lack of coverage of real-life subjects affect their lives to this day.

Originally, this video was meant to be part of Tete's podcast, "The Real Stuff." However, she didn't think it was a good fit, so she has given the video to me.

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Read the transcript here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/ep-184-5-tarot-analysis-two-of-swords-minor-arcana-balance-and-partnership

This week's tarot card from my Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Two of Swords, featuring Sam's mother, Raisa Abramova, from my @tapascommunity #graphicnovel, Sam in New York.

The Two of Swords shows a blindfolded Raisa holding two crossed swords. The blindfold suggests that she's confused about where she is and she can't see the problem or solution clearly. But the swords are in perfect balance, which suggests that she is thinking clearly despite her lack of knowledge and thinking about both sides of the situation to find the best solution.

Behind Raisa is an ocean with islands. The water represents emotions and the islands symbolize obstacles in her path. This suggests that Raisa will have to use her emotional intelligence to navigate various obstacles. The crescent moon also suggests that Raisa will need to rely on her intuition.

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Fortunus Games talks about the new direction of the podcast starting this week.

Season two will cover the following and more:

Concise tips for writing non-escapist fiction, since many of the episodes I had previously recorded with my co-hosts were very escapist. Many episodes fixated on Character A meeting Character B, which is fun, but doesn’t say much about the writing process.
Concise tips for writing female characters. We had a few episodes about this, but they were too long. We need to sum things up more concisely and effectively.
How to balance real life with creativity. This is a really important topic, since all three of us have realized that we need to balance both to succeed in both. And sometimes, it’s okay to not focus on writing, too. We don’t need to feel guilty about that.
More author interviews, including interviews with writers who have submitted to me and my co-hosts’ literary zine, The Unconventional Courier. The link is in the description if you want to learn more about The Unconventional Courier.

Stay tuned by subbing to my Instagram @nutsboltswriting.podcast and my Twitter @nuts_writing. You can also find me on YouTube under the username, Fortunus Games. Links to all of these can be found in my LinkTree, which is also in the description.

Thank you so much for supporting us since 2020! I can’t believe the podcast will be turning three this year. We wouldn’t have lasted this long without you guys supporting us!

Links:

The Unconventional Courier zine website.

My LinkTree.

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Watch on YouTube.

Read the transcript: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/ep-183-5-tarot-analysis-ace-of-swords-minor-arcana-success-new-ideas-and-breakthroughs

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Watch on YouTube.

My LinkeTree: https://www.linktr.ee/fortunusgames

Check out this podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfW

On Anchor.fm: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Tete.Depunk's social media: @Tete - DePunk on YouTube, @tete.depunk on Instagram, and @punk_tete on Twitter

R.N. Roveleh's social media: @R. N. Roveleh on YouTube, @Dr. Metalhead on YouTube, @helevorn_bor on Instagram, and @NRoveleh on Twitter

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Read the transcript here.

Watch on YouTube.

At last, we've come to the last card of the Fortunus Games tarot deck’s Suit of Coins/Pentacles - the King of Pentacles featuring Lev Abramov, Sam's father, from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York.”

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Watch on YouTube (with PowerPoint slides).

Read the transcript of this video here.

In this episode of "The Nuts and Bolts of Writing," R.N. Roveleh (a.k.a. Helevorn) and I, Fortunus Games, review and analyze Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella, "Heart of Darkness."

R.N. Roveleh is the author of "Lucky Wolf," a psychological historical novel about the tumultuous relationship between a magic practitioner and a warrior. You can buy it here: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/R_N_Roveleh_Lucky_Wolf?id=dnI4EAAAQBAJ&pli=1

She is also the author of "Sons of Disobedience," the sequel to "Lucky Wolf." Yngvar, whom we compared to Kurtz in this review, is a major character in both stories. Aidan is the protagonist of "Sons of Disobedience," and we get to see Yngvar through his lens.

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In Episode 181 of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing podcast, @Tete - DePunk and I talk about how she stopped using writing as escapism. She talks about how the 2022 Yale playwriting contest changed her approach to writing her novel-in-progress, "70 Fierce Years."

You can read a preview of @Tete - DePunk 's "70 Fierce Years": https://tapas.io/series/70-Fierce-Years/info

Read more about the 2022 Yale Playwriting Contest here: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/yale-drama-series-rules-and-submission-guidelines/

Watch the rest of the Nuts and Bolts of Writing podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfW

Listen to it on Anchor.fm (includes links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

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Watch on YouTube (with PowerPoint).

Helevorn (Instagram: @helevorn_bor) and I review Simon Sebag Montefiore's historical novel, "Red Sky at Noon." We explore the following and more:

What prompted me to read this book?
What are the flaws of this book?
What are the pros of this book?
How was the romance? Why did you not like it?
Why was Benya an unappealing protagonist?
How can we write historical fiction better?

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This week's tarot card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Queen of Pentacles. It features Sam’s mother, Raisa Abramova, from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York.”

As the Queen of Pentacles, Raisa is sitting on a stone throne with carvings of vines, goats, and other representations of success and pleasure. She's holding a coin with both hands and she's looking at it as if she wants to nurture it. Like the goats and other carvings on the throne, the coin represents success and wealth.

Raisa is also surrounded by flowers, trees, and plants, representing her connection to nature and fertility.

In short, this card stands for nurture and financial success. This is a perfect fit for Raisa, who nurtures her family by working at the family printshop.

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Watch on YouTube.

@wrenby_m and I will be talking about their #costume designs for Josofín, the main character of their #graphicnovel, "The House on Caple Hill."

This will be episode 179 of my podcast, @nutsboltswriting.podcast. It will be available to the public on YouTube starting today at 8:00 PM EST, and it will be on audio-only platforms like Spotify, Anchor, etc. starting December 11, 2022.

I'll be asking Wren these questions:

-What inspired Josofin’s costumes in the books of Khet and Ka?

-What colours palette will you be using?

-What do the designs and colours symbolize?

Art here is by @wrenby_m.

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Watch on YouTube.

Read the transcript here.

This week's tarot card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Knight of Pentacles. It features Katya Luneva from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York.”

Katya is sitting on a black horse while looking at the coin in her hand. She seems to be carefully observing the coin and isn't in a hurry to get anywhere.

Behind her is a giant field that has been ploughed row by row. This suggests that Katya, as the Knight, is ready to do anything to realize her dreams, even if it's boring and repetitive.

In short, this card stands for productivity, hard work, and routine.

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Today, Endlessmidnightmoon and I talk about her series, "Ignite." You can read it here: https://tapas.io/series/Ignite-btgs/info

In particular, we answer the following questions:

How do you think you approached the side characters differently as compared to Beyond The Grey Skies?
Who do you think is your favorite to write apart from Lorenzo?

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Read the transcript.

This week's tarot card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Page of Pentacles. It features Tom Melbourne from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York.”

This card stands for financial opportunity and progress in career and life, which is a perfect fit for Tom since he goes from rural Alaska to New York City to establish an eventual career as a lawyer. For now, he's just a law student, but he's working hard to build a promising future for himself.

These opportunities are represented as the grassy field and the newly plowed field behind him.

The mountains behind him signify the challenges he must overcome along the way. As previously discussed in the Tower card (which also featured Tom) of the Major Arcana, Tom faces many people and events that challenge the core of his identity, his naivety, and his innocence.

As for Tom himself, he's looking at the coin and examining it carefully. He may be trying to discover how he can manifest more abundance in his life. Alternatively, he may be wondering if this journey is worth it, especially since so many of his values and beliefs are being shattered...

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@wrenby_m and I have a livestream podcast episode where we talked about Wren's artistic influences and how their art style evolved.

As you can see from the artwork by @wrenby_m, there are many influences, including:

Sailor Moon
Over the Garden Wall
Cartoon Saloon
Miyazaki (specifically "My Neighbour Totoro")
70s-80s manga like Claudine
Adventure Time

@tete.depunk makes an awesome appearance in this video too (in the comments), giving a lot of feedback and contributing a ton to our conversation!

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Read the transcript here.

Watch on YouTube.

This week's tarot card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is 10 of Pentacles. It features Sam Abramov, Lina Williams, Lev Abramov, and Hannah Abramov from my graphic novels, "Sam in New York" and "Finding Sam."

The 10 of Pentacles shows Lev, the patriarch of the Abramov family, in a beautiful robe with two loyal dogs at his feet. His son Sam stands with his wife, Lina, and their child, Hannah, behind Lev.

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Tete DePunk and I review Lightyear (2022)!

Watch the video here on YouTube.

Watch to find out whether we thought it was better than The Batman (2022) @thebatman, which we reviewed on Episode 159 (watch it here on YouTube).

Watch my impromptu reaction/mini-review of Lightyear (2022) on YouTube.

Watch my impromptu reaction/mini-review of The Batman (2022) on YouTube.

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Watch on YouTube.

Read the full transcript.

This week's tarot card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is Nine of Pentacles. It features Lina Williams from my graphic novels, "Sam in New York" and "Finding Sam."

The Nine of Pentacles shows Lina standing in a beautiful vineyard. Like the woman on Nine of Pentacles, she's dressed in a beautiful robe that symbolizes her high station in life - namely, the fact that she's the daughter of an old money family.

The grapes behind her symbolize her healthy relationship with money, that she can enjoy what she's worked hard to achieve without going overboard. A hooded falcon sits on her left hand - it appears calm and maybe even affectionate, symbolizing Lina's spiritual and intellectual self-control.

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Tete Depunk and I review Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" (2013).

Links:

My reaction to Man of Steel

My review of Kingdom Come

Me and Tete's review of the Red Son comic

Me and Tete's review of the Red Son movie

Me and Tete's review of The Batman (2022)

Tete's novel, "70 Fierce Years"

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Watch on YouTube.

Read the transcript here.

This week's tarot card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is Eight of Pentacles. It features Pinchas Farber, Joel's father as seen in my graphic novels, "Sam in New York" and "The Book of Joel."

This card stands for crafting, skill development, and mastery. That’s why it shows Pinchas laboring over eight pentacles. He's currently working on the one in front of him. Behind him is a small town. Because he's so far away from the town and he's thoroughly engrossed in his work, we can see that he's dedicated to his craft.

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In this episode, @endlessmidnightmoon talks about her alternative universe (AU) story, "A Different Time," which is a different take on one of her main series, "Beyond the Grey Skies."

Check out @endlessmidnightmoon's "A Different Time" here.

Subscribe to her "Seeking Lull Tides" anthology here.

We discuss the following questions and more:

What do you think has changed and what has stayed the same?
How do you think you approached the historical setting differently compared to when you first began Beyond The Grey Skies?
Which part did you enjoy writing the most in this AU?
Who is the most different from their canon self? Annibale, Amaranta, or Aurelia?

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Watch on YouTube.

Read the full transcript here.

This week's tarot card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is Seven of Pentacles, featuring Sam Abramov from my graphic novel, Sam in New York!

The Seven of Pentacles features Sam looking at his abundant crop. He's toiled for years to get to where he is, but he's finally seeing results! He is both tired and happy at the same time.

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Read the full transcript.

This week's tarot card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is Six of Pentacles, featuring Katya Luneva as the central figure and Sam Abramov and Malka Spitzer as the two "extras." All of these characters are from my graphic novel, Sam in New York!

The Six of Pentacles shows Katya handing out coins to those who need them. Although Katya is not by any means wealthy (she's a factory worker), she's very generous to her friends and family, sometimes to her detriment.

Unlike Malka, who feels used up since she puts so much of herself into supporting her family, Katya takes a more detached approach, using her generosity as a way to learn more about others and enjoy the fruits of life.

This is how she got to know Sam and Malka better. Specifically, she gave them a lot of time and attention, which they both appreciate (albeit for different reasons).

For Malka, she had always wanted a friend who was a good listener, since she never really had people in her life who listened to what she really wanted to say.

Sam, on the other hand, wanted a buoyant girlfriend with whom he could explore the city and do outrageous things with. Katya managed to be both of these for both Sam and Malka.

Not only did she make Sam and Malka very happy, but she also learned a lot of things in the process. Even if she ended up drifting away from Sam at the end (especially after their breakup), she never holds any grudges. She thinks life is something that should be experienced and relished, no matter how "bad" it gets.

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Today, me and @R. N. Roveleh / @Dr. Metalhead (Instagram: @helevorn_bor) are going to be reviewing a movie from 2021, Ridley Scott's "The Last Duel."

"The Last Duel" is about a trial by combat in 14th century France, where two men duel over an accusation of rape.

The squire Jacques Le Gris is accused of raping Marguerite, the wife of his former friend Jean de Carrouges, and the only way to settle this matter of honour and to determine who is lying and who is telling the truth is to let God decide: they have to fight to the death.

So, to explore our opinions and views about this movie, I'll go through a series of questions that both of us will answer.

Intro - 0:25

1) What were your expectations for the movie? Did the movie exceed these expectations? 1:11

2) Out of the three perspectives, which was the most interesting? Which was the least? 4:55

3) In Le Gris' perspective, he and Marguerite talk about courtly love. What does this say about Le Gris' views on love and how he later acts? 14:39

4) How did you find the pacing of the movie? 23:10

5) (for Helevorn) Has this movie inspired you to approach your long-running work, "Sons of Disobedience," any differently? After all, SOD is also told from three perspectives. 29:24

6) How did you find the cinematography? 32:32

7) How would you rate this movie? 36:11

--

Links:

My reaction/mini-review of "The Last Duel" (2021)

Me and Helevorn's review of "The Northman" (2022)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Read the full transcript here.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is Five of Pentacles, featuring Sam Abramov and Katya Luneva from my graphic novel, Sam in New York!

The Five of Pentacles symbolizes adversity, loss, and poverty. It shows Sam (left) and Katya (right) in the middle of a snowstorm. They are looking away from each other and the only source of light in this picture, the window behind them, symbolizes warmth, comfort, and trust.

This suggests that Sam and Katya have drifted apart and that they are no longer close. Although they were both very excited about their relationship at the beginning, as they got to know each other more, they drifted apart. Katya, in particular, is disillusioned by Sam's emotional distance and how difficult it can be to talk to him on an intimate level. This is because Sam (at least during this stage of his life) is incredibly focused on auditioning for roles, ghostwriting, and "cold-calling," so much that he's got very little time for other things.

Sam is also notoriously bad at reading between the lines at this stage of his life. As such, Katya had many disagreements with him stemming from his failure to understand certain things…

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Art in the thumbnail is by Wren (Instagram: @wrenby_m).

Today, we'll be talking to Wren about their upcoming graphic novel, "The House on Caple Hill."

Watch the playlist of all of the podcasts we've recorded so far about this graphic novel.

Last time, we had compared Jo with Laurel, since they are the main characters of the second book of the series, The Book of Ka.

This time, we'll look at two important characters of the first book, The Book of Khet, namely, Claude and Peter. Claude was about to be married to Jo before she was whisked away and Peter marries her after casting a spell on her.

We cover the following and more:

1) Who is Peter and what are his main personality traits?

2) How does Peter's family affect his personality?

3) How does Peter's family compare to Claude's family?

4) Does Peter push roles harder on Josofin compared to Claude?

5) Is Peter more worldly and more exposed to other people than Claude?

6) What was Peter's first impression of Jo? How did it compare to Claude's first impression of Jo?

7) What was Jo's first impression of Peter? How does it compare to Jo's first impression of Claude?

8) How does magic affect Peter and how he sees the world and Jo? How does magic affect Claude and how he views the world and Jo?

9) What are Peter's main flaws? What are Claude's main flaws?

10) What are Peter's most redeeming traits, if they exist? What are Claude's most positive traits?

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Read the full transcript.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Four of Pentacles featuring Lina Williams from my graphic novel, “Sam in New York” and “Finding Sam”!

The Four of Pentacles shows Lina sitting on a rock outside of a bustling metropolis (New York City). Her arms are wrapped tightly around a coin. Two more coins are beneath her feet, while another one is above her. She doesn't look very comfortable.

This suggests that Lina isn't comfortable with what her privileged background represents. Because she's afraid that people will take advantage of the fact that she comes from "old money" (i.e., try to scam her, marry her for money, or get on her good side so she can pull strings for them) and can't see beneath her upbeat, confident exterior, she sometimes stops herself from connecting intimately with others.

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Watch my reaction/mini-review of The Northman.

In this episode, me and Helevorn (@helevorn_bor on Instagram) review the film, "The Northman" (2022).

We explore the following and more:

Intro - 0:26

1) What were your expectations for the movie? 1:01

2) How does it compare to other English-language films and media we've seen about the Vikings, such as the History channel's "Vikings?" 5:52

3) How historically accurate was the film? Were you surprised by how accurate it was? 11:20

4) What references to real historical events and sagas stood out to you in particular? 18:01

5) What did you think of the two male witches? 20:08

6) How did you find the score? 26:38

7) How did you find the cinematography? 28:53

8) How did you find the female characters, especially Gudrun, Amleth's mother? How did they compare to the male characters? What about the "Maiden-King"? 33:40

9) How did you find Olga and her relationship with Amleth? What did it reveal about both of them? 40:50

10) What's your rating (out of 5)? What could be improved about the movie? 53:59

11) Reply to comment on Twitch - Does this film glorify the Vikings? 59:54

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Read the full transcript here.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the third card of the Suit of Pentacles, Three of Pentacles. It features Malka Spitzer from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”!

The Three of Pentacles represents learning, apprenticeship, and studying.

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In this episode, @helevorn_bor and I explore two of her characters' 16Personalities quiz results - Ulf and Ivar.

These characters are from her upcoming novel, "Equilibrium Point." They're the modern equivalents of her "Lucky Wolf" characters, Eyolf and Yngvar.

We cover these questions and more:

1) What is Ulf’s personality? How about Ivar’s?

2) Let’s start with Ulf. a. What are Entrepreneurs (ESTP-A) like and does it fit Ulf? B. What are Ulf’s strengths and weaknesses? C. How about romantic relationships? D. How about friendships? E. How about parenthood? F. How about career?

3) Now on to Ivar. A. What are Architects ( INTJ-A) like and does it fit Ivar? B. What are Ivar’s strengths and weaknesses? C. How about romantic relationships? D. How about friendships? E. How about career?

4) Did you learn anything new about these characters?

5) How different are Ulf and Ivar from their medieval versions?

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This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the second card of the Suit of Pentacles, Two of Pentacles. It features Joel Farber and Malka Spitzer from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”!

I chose Joel as the Two of Pentacles because this card shows a young man juggling two coins. The infinity symbol links the two coins, which suggests that he can balance his energy, time, and resources in a mature and responsible manner. Behind him, two ships are sailing, navigating the ups and downs of waves. This also suggests that the ups and downs of life are manageable if you know how to balance things properly.

Joel learns all of these lessons in his early adulthood. He starts learning a bit about how to balance his emotions and his responsibilities in his teens, but it's not until his mid-to-late twenties that he really blossoms in this respect (especially in his relationship with Malka).

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Me and Tete explore "Superman: Red Son" (2003) - the comic! We explore the following questions:

Why did we start reading the Red Son comic?
What were our expectations?
What did we like the most about it? How did these positive points compare to the movie version?
What didn't we like about it?
What's our rating?

Links:

Me and Tete's "Red Son" movie review: https://youtu.be/pXiY1e1DRYU

My "Kingdom Come" (1996) comic review: https://youtu.be/7V15X40en9U

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Watch on YouTube and follow along as the characters move in the Sims!

In this Sims 4 roleplay, me and @tete.depunk roleplay as Malka Spitzer from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (me) and Tamara (aka Tatusya) from Tete's novel, "70 Fierce Years." (Tete)

The two women talk about women's roles in society, what they think about life and death, and of course, love. Tamara turns a bit hostile at the end due to her own negative experiences with sex and love.

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It's the last day of Tete's vacation in Canada (where she meets Fortunus Games for the first time in person). She gives her perspective of the three cities she's visited in Canada: Toronto, Kingston, and Ottawa.

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In this episode, @endlessmidnightmoon and I talk about the story that inspired a recent shift in her writing style, "Towards the Ruin," which is part of her anthology, "Seeking Lull Tides."

Check out "Towards the Ruin" here.

Check out "Seeking Lull Tides" here.

Check out Endless' other works:

"Beyond the Grey Skies"
"Ignite"

This story covers the revolution that shook Endless' world. Essentially, it's her world's equivalent of the #frenchrevolution.

We'll be covering the following questions:

1) What inspired you to write this short story?

2) How does this differ from what you typically write?

3) How was this story planned and how did it affect your approach to writing stories on Tapas?

4) How did this story differ in theme and focus from your previous stories in the anthology?

5) Did your approach to writing dialogue change?

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Watch on YouTube.

Read the full transcript on my site.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the first card of the Suit of Pentacles, the Ace of Pentacles. It features Joel Farber and Malka Spitzer from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”!

Like the Aces of other suits, the Ace of Pentacles symbolizes new opportunities. As you can see, a hand has suddenly appeared with a large coin in its cupped palm, symbolizing new wealth, business, love, and other opportunities.

Below the hand is a lush garden. Underneath the arch, we see Joel and Malka. They are looking towards a mountain, which symbolizes the journey they're going to undertake as a couple.

After overcoming Joel's self-denial and his obsession with isolating himself and minimizing his own feelings, Joel realizes he wants to live and that he wants to love Malka and accept her love for him. He realizes many opportunities are waiting for them in life and that he should no longer waste time dreaming about them - he and Malka need to go forward and accomplish those goals together.

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Today, we'll be talking to Wren about their upcoming graphic novel, "The House on Caple Hill."

Art in the thumbnail is by Wren (Instagram: @wrenby_m).

Watch the playlist of all of the podcasts we've recorded so far about this graphic novel.

Last time, we had compared Jo with Claude, since they are the main characters of the first book of the series, The Book of Khet.

Watch the Jo vs. Claude comparison video here.

This time, we'll look at the two main characters of the second book, The Book of Ka, who are Laurel and Jo.

We'll be looking at the following questions:

1) What are Laurel's main personality traits?

2) What kind of first impression does Laurel make on people?

3) What are Jo's main personality traits? Have these traits changed since the Book of Khet?

4) What kind of first impression does Jo make on others?

5) What traits does Josofin like the most about Laurel? What traits does she dislike the most?

6) What activities do Laurel and Jo like to do together?

7) Does Jo envy Laurel? Does this affect their friendship?

8) What traits does Laurel like the most about Jo? What traits does she dislike the most about her?

9) How does Laurel get along with her family and how does this compare to Josofin's relationship with her family?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Read the full transcript.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the King of Cups featuring Joel Farber from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”! We're at the end of the Suit of Cups! In its upright position, the King of Cups symbolizes diplomacy, compassion, and being emotionally balanced.

He sits on a large stone throne and seems to be looking away from the cup, which suggests that he's mastered his emotions and doesn't need to focus that much on his emotionality.

In reverse, the King of Cups represents inner feelings, being emotionally manipulative, and moodiness.

How does this tie in to Joel? Like the King of Cups in reverse, Joel was (and still is, to some degree), at his core, a sensitive and moody individual focused on his inner feelings. He started as a very sensitive and emotional young boy, but he later learns to distance himself from his emotions.

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Sam, from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York," is an ENTP-A or a Debater.

This is one result that I don't agree with - yes, Sam is incredibly extroverted (it says 98% extroverted here), but he isn't obsessed with proving a point (that's a Joel thing). Sam isn't argumentative at all - he's actually quite laid back and doesn't really care about other peoples' views or his own.

He just wants to have fun and become a famous actor and filmmaker.

Read about the ENTP-A personality here.

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This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Queen of Cups featuring Malka Spitzer from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”! We're nearing the end of the Suit of Cups!

This was the first card I ever did for the Fortunus Games tarot deck. I did it all the way back in March 2021, before I had solid plans for actually finishing the tarot series. As of now, I only have a few Suit of Swords cards remaining before moving on to the last Minor Arcana Suit, the Suit of Wands.

Malka is the perfect Queen of Cups because she’s intuitive, kind, generous, and loving. She also has a tendency toward overthinking and being overly absorbed in her thoughts. We will see this in a couple of short stories I wrote from her perspective.

I didn’t really follow the Rider-Waite imagery here. Instead, I decided to follow a more Queen of Pentacles-esque feel, with a winery behind her to symbolize the fullness of life.

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Today, we'll be talking to Wren about their upcoming graphic novel, "The House on Caple Hill."

Art in the thumbnail is by Wren (Instagram: @wrenby_m).

Watch the playlist of all of the podcasts we've recorded so far about this graphic novel.

In this episode, we learn that Josofín is quite cut off from her surroundings, including her family, and struggles to connect with people. Claude is one of the few people who agree with her that many societal conventions are repressive.

However, he also encourages her to refine her societal mask, since his family depends on him for many things (he's the eldest son).

In short, Claude and Josofín complement each other in many ways. However, Claude is somewhat of a gentle authoritarian who doesn't really encourage Josofín to find herself, unlike Laurel, another character we'll be comparing Josofín to in our next episode with @wrenby_m...stay tuned to find out more!

We cover the following questions in this episode:

1) What are Josofín's key personality traits?

2) What are Claude's key personality traits?

3) How do these two interact? When do they get along the best and when do they argue the most?

4) What traits does Josofín like the most about Claude? What does she dislike the most about him?

5) What traits does Claude like the most about Josofín? What traits does he dislike the most about her?

6) What activities do they enjoy doing together?

7) What were their first impressions of each other and do those impressions change?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Read the full transcript on my site.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is Knight of Cups, featuring Sam Abramov from my graphic novel, Sam in New York!

Sam is the prototypical Knight of Cups. He has always seen himself as a prince in shining armour and is extremely idealistic (at least on the surface), to the point of appearing like Don Quixote at times.

In most portrayals, the Knight wears a cloak with fishes on it, which symbolizes consciousness and creativity. In contrast, Sam's cloak shows smiley faces, showing his love for popular culture, comedy, and pranks. The cloak's also yellow and pink, his two favorite colors.

The background is dry and barren, symbolizing the Knight of Cups’ ability to turn that barrenness into something. Sam's doing just that with his movies, jokes, and advertising skills! He's got plenty of imagination to share with the world!

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This is episode 4 of our "Golden Age Superman" series, which you can check out here.

Recently, after watching The Batman 2022 and making a reaction/review video of it last week (see below for links), Tete and I thought more about Superman and why a lot of his movies aren't that well done.

From her perspective, anyways. She thinks - and I would agree with her - that Superman's character has been changed since the Golden Age of his series, which was in the 1930s and 40s.

After WWII, his character got increasingly sanitized and was turned into another version of Captain America, so to speak, sort of a role model for young boys to teach them about responsibility.

In these next few podcast episodes, we'll be exploring how and why Tete doesn't like Silver Age Superman stories and why she prefers Golden Age in general.

Questions:

You've been working on a new story that's based on your own interpretation of Superman. Can you tell us about it? What is it called?
Where did you get the idea to work on this?
What format will this story be in? Will it be pitched to DC? Do you think it'll be a comic, if accepted?

--

Links:

Our podcast, "The Nuts and Bolts of Writing" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfW

Our podcast on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

My live reaction and review of The Batman (2022): https://youtu.be/rji-ME1OCOE

Tete's Review of The Batman (2022) - filmed before I watched it so I was just interviewing her: https://youtu.be/zFjGbYthVhw

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Read the transcript on my website.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Page of Cups featuring Malka Spitzer from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”! We're nearing the end of the Suit of Cups!

The Page of Cups wears a blue tunic with flowers on it and a beret with a scarf. She's holding a cup with a fish sticking out of it.

The fish and the waves behind her symbolize water and intuition, creativity, feelings, and emotions. The fact that the fish is unexpected symbolizes surprising and unexpected things in life and how Malka is willing to be surprised and enjoy being surprised (unlike Joel).

All in all, Malka as the Page of Cups is a sweet-natured individual who loves the arts and is very spiritual. She is compassionate, loving, and wants to enjoy the fruits of life and love.

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This is episode 3 of our "Golden Age Superman" series, which you can check out here.

Recently, after watching The Batman 2022 and making a reaction/review video of it last week (see below for links), Tete and I thought more about Superman and why a lot of his movies aren't that well done.

From her perspective, anyways. She thinks - and I would agree with her - that Superman's character has been changed since the Golden Age of his series, which was in the 1930s and 40s.

After WWII, his character got increasingly sanitized and was turned into another version of Captain America, so to speak, sort of a role model for young boys to teach them about responsibility.

In these next few podcast episodes, we'll be exploring how and why Tete doesn't like Silver Age Superman stories and why she prefers Golden Age in general.

Questions:

How do the villains in Golden Age Superman compare to those of the Batman canon? Which are your favorites (mention Lex Luthor) and how do they compare to Batman villains?
How do you think Golden Age Superman should be portrayed? How would you describe his personality? Is he as much of a contrast to Batman as he seems to be in recent media, like the Snyderverse movies?

--

Links:

Our podcast, "The Nuts and Bolts of Writing" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfW

Our podcast on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

My live reaction and review of The Batman (2022): https://youtu.be/rji-ME1OCOE

Tete's Review of The Batman (2022) - filmed before I watched it so I was just interviewing her: https://youtu.be/zFjGbYthVhw

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Read transcript here.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Ten of Cups featuring Joel Farber, Malka Spitzer, and their kids, Abigail and Rubin, from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”!

The Ten of Cups symbolizes divine love, contentment, alignment, and familial happiness. Joel and Malka have finally decided to come together. Now they have everything they've ever wished for - a loving home, fulfilling love, and beautiful children to share their love with.

This is a groundbreaking milestone for both of them since they came from dysfunctional homes. Now they have the chance to break free of the cycle and create the home life they've always wished for. They also have endless opportunities to talk about life, their interests, and more.

Above them is a rainbow, which is a sign from the Divine that everything will be alright.

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This is episode 2 of our "Golden Age Superman" series, which you can check out here.

Recently, after watching The Batman 2022 and making a reaction/review video of it last week (see below for links), Tete and I thought more about Superman and why a lot of his movies aren't that well done. From her perspective, anyways. She thinks - and I would agree with her - that Superman's character has been changed since the Golden Age of his series, which was in the 1930s and 40s.

After WWII, his character got increasingly sanitized and was turned into another version of Captain America, so to speak, sort of a role model for young boys to teach them about responsibility.

In these next few podcast episodes, we'll be exploring how and why Tete doesn't like Silver Age Superman stories and why she prefers Golden Age in general.

Questions:

How did Batman's character change throughout the 20th century? Did he change as much as Superman? Why or why not, do you think?
Why was Superman allowed to be "sanitized" while Batman got edgier and edgier? Do you think that's why Batman appears to be more popular than Superman, because he is edgier and less of a "boy scout" who seems too idealized?
Do you think there are a lot of similarities between Batman, especially the most recent incarnation of him in The Batman (2022), and Golden Age Superman?

--

Links:

Our podcast, "The Nuts and Bolts of Writing" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfW

Our podcast on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

My live reaction and review of The Batman (2022): https://youtu.be/rji-ME1OCOE

Tete's Review of The Batman (2022) - filmed before I watched it so I was just interviewing her: https://youtu.be/zFjGbYthVhw

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Tete Depunk and I decided to make a podcast episode about why she got rid of Zindel, her newest character who was based on Golden Age Superman.

Zindel was first introduced in this episode (episode 163 on Anchor, which technically hasn't been released yet, but it's been on YouTube for months).

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Read "The Shadow Self" here.

My other "The Shadow Self" Webtoon development videos:

Intro (first episode)

Second episode

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Read the full transcript here.

Check out all of my Fortunus Games tarot cards here.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Nine of Cups featuring Joel Farber from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”! The Nine of Cups is associated with happiness and satisfaction.

In a love reading, the Nine of Cups indicates that the relationship is going well. It also indicates the enjoyment of sensual pleasures such as eating delicious meals and making love.

In my Nine of Cups, Joel sits on a bench in front of a curved structure draped in blue cloth. He looks happy and satisfied as he thinks about his life and the way it's developing. Without a doubt, he's thinking about Malka and the life he wants to build with her.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

This is episode 1 of our "Golden Age Superman" series, which you can see here.

Recently, after watching The Batman 2022 and making a reaction/review video of it last week (see below for links), Tete and I thought more about Superman and why a lot of his movies aren't that well done. From her perspective, anyways. She thinks - and I would agree with her - that Superman's character has been changed since the Golden Age of his series, which was in the 1930s and 40s.

After WWII, his character got increasingly sanitized and was turned into another version of Captain America, so to speak, sort of a role model for young boys to teach them about responsibility.

In these next few podcast episodes, we'll be exploring how and why Tete doesn't like Silver Age Superman stories and why she prefers Golden Age in general.

Questions:

When were you first exposed to Golden Age comics?
When did you first get exposed to Silver Age? What did you think of those?
What is the least appealing thing about Silver Age? Is it how the villains are? Did it feel like a Saturday morning cartoon?
Who was the least appealing villain in Silver Age?

--

Links:

Our podcast, "The Nuts and Bolts of Writing" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfW

Our podcast on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

My live reaction and review of The Batman (2022): https://youtu.be/rji-ME1OCOE

Tete's Review of The Batman (2022) - filmed before I watched it so I was just interviewing her: https://youtu.be/zFjGbYthVhw

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

@tete.depunk and I celebrate the first anniversary of @helevorn_bor's "Lucky Wolf"! For a limited time only, @R. N. Roveleh is selling the hard copy of "Lucky Wolf" for only 7 USD.

Check out this post for more information.

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Watch on YouTube.

Read the full transcript here.

Check out all of my Fortunus Games tarot cards here.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Eight of Cups featuring Zhuel from Tete.Depunk's fantasy novel, “Scale, Blood, and Bone,” which you can read here.

“Scale, Blood, and Bone” is an AU fantasy reinterpretation of some of the events of my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel.”

In this card, Zhuel is stepping away from the life he had growing up as his mother's son, as a prince. After the dramatic scene where his mother, Rukhel, had caught him practicing forbidden dark magic, he had whisked himself and Malka away from the palace.

I chose Eight of Cups for this scene because the Eight of Cups symbolizes a time for transformation, of stepping away from something that no longer satisfies you. Zhuel stepped away from being under his mother's thumb, since it no longer appealed to him. He was sick of being controlled and wanted more power and respect. He no longer wanted to be that quiet, stuttering child who was weaker than everyone else.

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Tete and I review "The Batman" (2022) starring Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz.

Video starts at 0:23.

We cover the following questions:

1) What were your expectations for this movie? Did the movie meet them? 1:41

2) What was your favorite part of the movie? 9:00

3) Is Pattinson's Batman your favorite Batman? Which was your least favorite Batman? 11:31

4) How did you find Batman's relationship with Catwoman in this movie? 14:08

5) What did you think of the villains in this film? 22:37

6) What did you think of the cinematography? 26:50

7) How was the score like? 29:41

8) What's your rating? 31:51

--

Links:

Our podcast, "The Nuts and Bolts of Writing" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfW

Our podcast on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

My live reaction and review of The Batman (2022): https://youtu.be/rji-ME1OCOE

Tete's Review of The Batman (2022) - filmed before I watched it so I was just interviewing her: https://youtu.be/zFjGbYthVhw

My graphic novel series, "The Book of Joel": https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch on YouTube.

Full transcript here.

My other Fortunus Games tarot deck cards.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Seven of Cups featuring Benjamin Cox from my graphic novel, “Sam in New York”!

As a Dispensationalist non-denominational Protestant Christian, Ben is deeply interested in the Book of Revelation. He wonders about the end of days and thinks about the symbolism (as well as the literalism, since Dispensationalists tend towards literal interpretations of the Bible) in the Book of Revelation quite a lot, so I decided to turn the seven cups in this card into the seven bowls of God's wrath in the Book of Revelation.

The Seven of Cups represents dreams and the Book of Revelation was said to have been revealed to John through a dream. Also, Ben dreams a lot about Biblical prophecies, since he spends a lot of time studying them.

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Malka from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel," is an ENFJ-A (assertive) - interestingly, the same type as Tete's Andrei. That was unexpected...

Read more about this personality type here.

Read "The Book of Joel" here.

Read Malka's character profile here.

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This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Six of Cups featuring Malka Spitzer and Joel Farber from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”!

Six of Cups features Joel and Malka as children looking at each other. Joel is giving her flowers in a cup as Malka looks at him with admiration and respect.

Six of Cups represents harmony, co-operation, and love as well as childhood memories. Joel and Malka have plenty of good childhood memories to look back upon. Although they weren't very close as children, they enjoyed each other's company. We'll see more of this the further we go in my graphic novels, "The Book of Joel" and "Sam in New York,” where these two also appear.

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@tete.depunk takes a personality quiz for her character, Tamara Geladze, one of the main characters of "70 Fierce Years."

Read "70 Fierce Years" (the novel preview) here.

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This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Five of Cups featuring Zhuel from Tete.Depunk’s fantasy novel, “Scale, Blood, and Bone,” which you can read on Tapas. “Scale, Blood, and Bone” is an AU fantasy reinterpretation of some of the events of my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel.”

The Five of Cups shows Zhuel looking down at three cups that have been knocked over. These cups symbolize his failures and disappointments. There are two upright cups behind him, however, that represent new opportunities. Unfortunately, Zhuel's not paying attention to them because he's so fixated on his failures and his own tortured mental landscape.

In other words, this card is Zhuel in a nutshell. Joel, too, since Zhuel's basically an alternative version of Joel, who's the protagonist of my graphic novel on Tapas, "The Book of Joel." Both Zhuel and Joel are fixated on their internal feelings and subjectivity and have difficulty untangling their thoughts. This is one of the reasons why they overthink and stop themselves from bonding with others.

Behind Zhuel are a river and a castle, symbolizing the security and peacefulness he could obtain if he left his pessimism behind. If only he crossed the river, he wouldn’t have to dwell on the disappointments in his life!

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@tete.depunk takes a personality quiz for her character, Andrei Novokshonov, the protagonist of "70 Fierce Years."

Read "70 Fierce Years" (the novel preview) here.

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This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Four of Cups featuring Benjamin Cox from my graphic novel, “Sam in New York”!

I chose the Four of Cups to represent Ben because he is someone who struggles with facing reality. He has thrown himself deep into religion and academic study to escape the problems plaguing his life - his loveless marriage, lack of real friends, and his inability to heal from the scars of his abusive childhood. For all of his intelligence and wit (and maybe because of these traits), Ben is unable to escape the constraints that he has erected for himself.

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Joel from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel," is an INTJ-T (turbulent)!!!!

Read more about this personality type here.

Read "The Book of Joel" here.

Read Joel's character profile here.

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This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is Three of Cups featuring (from left to right) Joel Farber, Sam Abramov, and Frankie Amato from my graphic novels, “The Book of Joel” and “Sam in New York”!

This card symbolizes the joy of social contact, so Joel, Sam, and Frankie were the perfect pick for this. It's a card of celebration, support, and friendship.

Although these three are good friends in high school (Frankie and Sam more than Joel with Sam or Frankie), they do drift somewhat apart as they get older. Sam and Frankie remain close, but Joel drifts quite far from Frankie and Sam.

That’s because he feels like he has little in common with them, which was always the case. Even during high school, Joel always felt he was the third wheel, with Sam and Frankie dominating most of the conversations.

Sam and Frankie share a lot more in common - although Frankie is more serious and less extroverted than Sam, both young men are extroverted, somewhat mischievous, and like seeing people’s reactions. Frankie drifts away from this after high school, but these sides of him emerge when he talks to Sam.

However, Joel never really had these personality traits. He mostly talked to the other two about debate club (since they all enjoyed pissing off certain people at debate club) and the things they didn’t like. As you know, Joel is someone who can spend a long time talking about things he doesn’t like, and that really intrigued Sam and Frankie.

So, a bit more about the imagery of this card. The three young men are dancing in a circle and they’re raising their cups high in celebration. They’re looking at each other in appreciation and they’re bound by their friendship. There is a sense of them supporting each other and celebrating each person’s unique contributions to the group. And this is how Sam, Frankie, and Joel interacted in high school. And as we will see, they drift apart, as many young people do, after high school.

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Read "Ignite" here.

Today, me and @endlessmidnightmoon talk about her newest Tapas novel, "Ignite."

We explore the following questions:

1) What is the structure of Ignite? How does it compare to Beyond the Grey Skies?

2) Why did you choose to write Ignite backwards? How did you know the ending first? Did it just suddenly come to you?

3) How do you write Beyond the Grey Skies? Do you go with an outline or do you write it as you go?

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Check out all of my finished Fortunus Games tarot deck cards here.

This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is Two of Cups featuring Malka Spitzer and Joel Farber from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel”!

The Two of Cups shows Malka and Joel exchanging cups and vowing to love each other. Above them is the Caduceus of Hermes, a staff with two snakes around it that symbolizes exchange, trade, and commerce. The staff is topped by a lion's head, which represents the fiery sexual energy between Malka and Joel.

In short, the card symbolizes attraction, confluence, harmony, unity, and mutual respect.

This is the perfect card for Joel and Malka. Out of all of my couples, Joel and Malka understand each other the most. As my friend Tete describes it, their relationship is instinctual. They just understand each other so well. A lot can be said with the smallest of gestures.

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Read "Ignite" here.

Today, me and @endlessmidnightmoon talk about her newest Tapas novel, "Ignite."

We explore the following questions:

1) When did you get the idea for Ignite, your new series?

2) What time does it take place? Does it take place before or after Beyond the Grey Skies?

3) Who is Lorenzo, the main character of Ignite?

4) How is it like writing Lorenzo compared to the De Moreni siblings, who are the protagonists of Beyond the Grey Skies?

5) One thing that really stands out about Ignite is the theme of duty versus desire. How do Cosimo and Lorenzo navigate the tension between duty and desire?

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It's now time for the Minor Arcana of the Fortunus Games tarot deck!

The first suit I'll do is the Suit of Cups, and the Suit of Cups starts with none other than the Ace of Cups!

The Ace of Cups signifies new beginnings, inner peace, and hope, happiness, and empathy. In love and relationships, this card signifies the beginning of a new relationship, pregnancy, and fertility.

Malka Spitzer from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel,” was the perfect pick for this because she realizes in a pivotal scene that she loves Joel. She accepts this with grace, happiness, and hope. Contrast this with the cynical and doubtful Joel, who panics, feels uncomfortable, and denies his feelings when faced with the reality that he may be falling in love with Malka.

It's not until the kiss on the rooftop (which we saw in Chapter 2) that both of them come to terms with their feelings for one another and realize the future they can build together.

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Tete.Depunk reviews "The Batman" movie starring Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz.

I ask her the following questions to get her opinion:

1) What were your expectations for this movie? Did the movie meet them?

2) What was your favorite part of the movie?

3) Is Pattinson's Batman your favorite Batman? Which was your least favorite Batman?

4) How did you find Batman's relationship with Catwoman in this movie?

5) How does this Batman compare to The Dark Knight from 2008? And the Snyderverse portrayals of Batman?

6) What did you think of the villains in this film?

7) What did you think of the cinematography?

8) How was the score like?

9) What's your rating?

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Hi everyone! This week, we’ll look at Judgment, the last card of the Major Arcana in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

Check out the Fortunus Games tarot deck here.

For "Judgment," I chose Ben and Doris Cox from my Tapas graphic novel series, Sam in New York, since Judgment features the Christian concept of Judgment Day.

However, there's a little twist - Ben and Doris belong to a sect of Christianity (non-denominational Protestant that's influenced by Pentecostalism and Charismatic Christianity) that believes that there will be a Rapture before Christ's Second Coming (which will then lead to Judgment Day).

So here, Ben and Doris are actually waiting for the Rapture. The Rapture is a theological position held by some Protestant Christians about an end-time event where believers will be taken into Heaven.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world will be plunged into a seven-year tribulation period, which is when the Antichrist comes to power.

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@tete.depunk and I talk about what she thinks of getting rid of two of her characters, Kai and Gerda.

We explore the following topics:

1) I know we've already trashed Kai, but it's time to trash Gerda too now. Why's that the case? Why have you decided to trash her now?

2) In retrospect, what was the most frustrating thing about working with Gerda and Kai?

3) Does this have to with how they are external characters? That is, their personalities and stories were determined by their reaction to external events, but they themselves had little to no distinguishing personality traits, other than tropes.

4) Which was more frustrating to work with, the medieval fantasy version or the magic realism version in 19th century?

5) Do you think Gerda and Kai were determined too much by their victim status as well? For instance, Gerda was defined by the fact she was a magic user who was discriminated against by non-magic people.

She also went through a bad marriage and had little going for her until she met the Frost Lord. Kai also had similar trappings, since he was a slave and he had lost his first wife.

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Hi everyone! This week, we’ll look at the Sun in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

The Sun features Lina Williams from my graphic novel, Sam in New York.

She's a good fit for this card since The Sun portends good fortune, happiness, success, and joy.

And this is what she sets out to accomplish in Sam in New York as well as in Finding Sam. In all timelines, she wants to be a designer and create her own path, rather than "just" a rich girl looking for a good marriage match. She wants to define herself and not let her family, family status, and others around her define her.

Guess who is behind her, playing the Sun...! It's Sam, of course. He plays a large role in her story (as does she in his), which we got a glimpse of in Finding Sam.

The white horse is a sign of strength and purity. In most portrayals of this card, the rider of the horse is a young child, who represents innocence and the being connected with your inner spirit.

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Today, R.N. Roveleh (Instagram: @helevorn_bor) talk about her short story, "The Insufferable Slave." You can read it here.

We explore how she wrote this story and what it says about two of her characters in particular, Asvald and Aidan.

Art in the thumbnail is by R.N. Roveleh.

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Hi everyone! This week, we’ll look at the Moon in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

The Moon features Katya Luneva from my graphic novel, Sam in New York.

This card represents imagination contrasted with day-to-day life. The dog and wolf represent the tame side of our nature versus the wilder and more instinctual aspects of our humanity. This card also represents intuition and the early stages of consciousness unfolding. The crayfish at the very bottom is actually us at the beginning of our journey. As we move on land and through the mountains and navigate both the tame and wild sides of our human nature, we learn more and more about ourselves and those around us.

Katya is a good fit for this card because she is very imaginative, instinctual (@tete.depunk's Andrei can attest to that!), and curious about her surroundings. She spends much of her limited free time daydreaming about possibilities and is very much into mythology and fantasy. She is also one of the most sexually confident female characters, seeing sensuality as a way to express herself as well as to understand others.

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This week, R.N. Roveleh (Instagram: @helevorn_bor) and I talk about her newest short story, "The Sellsword from Iceland." You can read it here.

We explore the characters and themes of this short story, especially what it says about the main character, Yngvar, and how he sees the world.

Art in the thumbnail is by R.N. Roveleh.

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Hi everyone! This week, we’ll look at the Star in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

The Star features Raisa Abramova from my graphic novel, Sam in New York, who is the protagonist Sam’s mother.

She's pouring water onto the land and into the pool. The container she's using to pour water onto the land indicates nourishment, which Raisa provides for her family through her emotional intelligence.

On the other hand, the other container (that's pouring water into the pool) and her foot in the pool indicates that she has a lot of inner strength. In "Sam in New York," we see how her inner strength and emotional intelligence have supported she and her husband's business, Abramov Printing House, even in the toughest of times.

The large star and the seven smaller stars (which represent the seven chakras) represent the will to live and the strength to carry on with her life.

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Watch all of me and Tete's DC crossover roleplays here.

In this Sims 4 roleplay, me and @tete.depunk roleplay as Sam Abramov from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York" (me) and Lex Luthor from the Snyderverse DC movies (Tete). Find out what these two are getting up to and what that machine in the thumbnail is for!

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Learn more about the Fortunus Games Tarot Deck.

The Tower features Tom Melbourne from my graphic novel, Sam in New York, falling from a lighthouse. On one side of the card, we see New York City (where he's moved to pursue law school), and on the other side, we see where he grew up in rural Alaska.

In my graphic novel, "Sam in New York," Tom goes through many changes after moving to New York City, discovering more about himself, humanity, and some rather unpleasant truths about both as he goes through law school. The lightning represents the sudden surge of energy that Tom gets as he has these revelations. The little pieces at the top are tongues of fire in the shape of the Hebrew letter yod, symbolizing the presence of the Divine even during these tough times.

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Watch this roleplay on YouTube with visuals! You'll be able to see the Sims moving and talking to each other as me and Tete roleplay.

In this Sims 4 roleplay, me and @tete.depunk continue off from where we left off last time here.

Watch all of me and Tete's DC crossover roleplays here.

Once again, I roleplay as Joel Farber from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" while Tete.Depunk roleplays as Bruce Wayne/Batman from DC Comics.

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Learn more about the Fortunus Games Tarot Deck here.

Hi everyone! This week, we’ll look at the Devil in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

Who else other than Ardalion Mayakov, the enigmatic and darkly seductive owner of the adult anarchist bookstore, "Ardalion Books and Gifts," would be the Devil?

Ardalion is a character from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York."

Like the Devil in the Major Arcana, Ardalion stands for sexuality and the shadow self. As we’ve seen in my short story, “Mephistopheles Tips His Hat,” (which was published in The Victoria Review 2019 Anthology), Ardalion is the ultimate Devil’s advocate. He likes to challenge people’s deep-seated views, especially if doing so makes them uncomfortable. He is obsessed with breaking down barriers (usually discretely) and he wants to challenge all norms, especially sexual ones.

Like traditional portrays of the Devil in the Major Arcana, Ardalion is shown as Baphomet or the Horned Goat of Mendes, a creature that is half goat, half man. Although Baphomet originally symbolized the balance between opposites like male and female, human and animal, and good and evil, it’s recently been linked to the occult. As such, it’s become symbolic of all things “evil.”

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Watch this on YouTube! You'll be able to see our Sims move and interact with each other as we roleplay.

Watch all of me and Tete's DC crossover roleplays here.

In this Sims 4 roleplay, me and @tete.depunk roleplay as Malka Spitzer and Joel Farber from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (me) and Golden Age Lois Lane from DC Comics (Tete).

Note that Tete has modified and added to Lois Lane's character because she's writing an improved version of the Red Son Superman movie.

Find out how they meet and what these three learn about each other!

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This week, we’ll look at Temperance in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

This tarot card features Pinchas Farber from my Tapas graphic novel, “The Book of Joel.” This card symbolizes balance, moderation, and purpose, which Pinchas believes himself to have (especially in contrast to his fiery wife, Rokhl/Rachel).

Growing up, Joel believes that Pinchas is a great representation of these qualities, but as he gets older, he starts seeing Pinchas as being too passive and depressed for his own good. He doesn't like how he often brushes aside things that make him uncomfortable and prefers status quo.

Perhaps this is why Joel takes it upon himself to become an outspoken debater in high school. Pinchas is pouring water between two cups, symbolizing the alchemy and flow of life.

There’s also a hovering light above the mountains that symbolizes the importance of staying true to oneself throughout the journey of life.

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Tete.Depunk's Tapas novel preview, "70 Fierce Years," will feature some very dark events soon. Prepare to see Andrei's ethnic identity wiped and a heart-wrenching betrayal...

You can read and sub to "70 Fierce Years" here.

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Watch the video on YouTube! You'll see the Sims moving as me and Tete roleplay the characters' dialogue.

Watch all of me and Tete's DC crossover roleplays here.

In this Sims 4 roleplay, me and @tete.depunk roleplay as Malka Spitzer and Joel Farber from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (me) and Bruce Wayne/Batman from DC Comics (Tete). Find out how they meet and what these three learn about each other!

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Hi everyone! This week, we’ll look at Death in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

I chose to represent Death as Zhuel from Tete’s fantasy series, “Scale, Blood, and Bone,” which you can read on Tapas. “Scale, Blood, and Bone” is an alternative universe (AU) fantasy reinterpretation of some of the events of my “The Book of Joel.”

Zhuel is the AU version of my character Joel Farber from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel.”

Self-denying, authoritative, and solemn, Zhuel struggles with many of the same self-inflicted issues as Joel: self-hatred, overthinking, and nihilism.

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Watch this on YouTube! You'll see me playing the Sims while me and Tete do an audio roleplay of their dialogue.

Watch all of me and Tete's DC crossover roleplays here.

In this Sims 4 roleplay, me and @tete.depunk roleplay as Joel Farber from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (me) and Golden Age Lois Lane from DC Comics (Tete). Note that Tete has modified and added to Lois Lane's character because she's writing an improved version of the Red Son Superman movie. Find out how they meet and what these two learn about each other!

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I have chosen to portray the Hanged Man as Joel Farber from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel.”

This is because the Hanged Man symbolizes the following: Wisdom, circumspection, discernment, trials, sacrifice, intuition, divination, prophecy. In reverse, the Hanged Man symbolizes selfishness, the crowd, and the body politic. The halo burning brightly around the hanged man's head can signify higher learning or enlightenment.

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Watch on YouTube. We play the Sims as we speak, so you can see the characters moving as we talk!

Watch all of me and Tete's DC crossover roleplays here.

In this Sims 4 roleplay, me and @tete.depunk roleplay as Joel Farber from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (me) and Bruce Wayne/Batman from DC Comics (Tete). Find out how they meet and what these two men learn about each other!

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Check out the Fortunus Games Tarot Deck!

Hi everyone! This week, we’ll look at Strength in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck. This card is either number Eleven or Eight, depending on the deck. I chose to go with Eleven. I chose to represent Strength as Fahid from Tete’s fantasy series, “Scale, Blood, and Bone,” which you can read on Tapas. “Scale, Blood, and Bone” is an alternative universe (AU) fantasy reinterpretation of some of the events of my “The Book of Joel.”

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Today, me and Wren are going to be talking about their graphic novel, "The House on Caple Hill."

Last time, on Episode 133, we talked about the first book of the series, "The Book of Khet." The Khet is one of the parts of the soul in Egyptian mythology, namely, the body. Accordingly, it's the beginning of our protagonist Josofin's story.

(You can check out all of the podcasts I've done with Wren on this playlist.)

Art on the thumbnail is by Wren.

Specifically, we'll be looking at the second book of the series, "The Book of Ka." Ka is the "spark of life" that distinguishes life from death. It explores more of Josofin's story, especially after a dramatic event in the first book.

As previously discussed, each book in your graphic novel series, "The House on Caple Hill," takes place in a different setting. What's the setting of the Book of Ka?
Who is the Erlking? What mythological figure from real life was he inspired by?
Who is Laurel? What is her relationship to the story and to Josofin?
Tell us how Josofin meets the Erlking's family with as few spoilers as possible. What does she learn from them? And they from her?
What are the themes of the Book of Ka? How do they compare to the Book of Khet?

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Hi everyone! This week, we’ll look at The Wheel of Fortune in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

I chose Sam Abramov, the protagonist of my Tapas graphic novel, “Sam in New York” for this card.

The Wheel of Fortune represents good fortune, luck, and felicity, all things that Sam wants for himself.

I can easily imagine Sam having a Wheel of Fortune as a game show host if he ever became one!

And who's dressed as a playboy bunny on the side of the wheel? It's Sam! It's a wink at the outfit Sam wore in the Sims 4 for Halloween 2020.

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, there are four astrological signs representing the Four Evangelists, but I didn't have space to put them in and I didn't want to make the piece too crowded. So we only have Taurus and Leo, which fit Sam the best. Although Sam's an Aries, Taurus fits him because he likes material comfort. He also has many Leo qualities, such as desiring attention.

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Today, me and Helevorn (IG: @helevorn_bor) talk about one of her favorite plays, "Hedda Gabler" by Henrik Ibsen.

We cover the following questions:

Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, published in 1890, is considered to be one of the masterpieces of realist literature and of drama, in general. The title character, Hedda Gabler, is seen as a female Hamlet through the force and depth of the character. Can you begin by summarizing the plot?
What are the themes of the play?
What’s Hedda Gabler like?
Like other female characters of Ibsen’s, Hedda feels stifled in her life. How is she different from Ellida (from Lady from the Sea) or Nora (from A Doll’s House)?
If Hedda is so “morbidly selfish”, as she’s called by critics, what are relationships to her? How does she relate to her husband, George Tesman and to Eilert Løvborg? Does she love anyone?
Hedda Gabler often complains about boredom. How do you explain this boredom?
Beauty is something Hedda talks about repeatedly. What is beauty for her?
Is she a narcissist? Do you see her behaviour as a hint to a pathology?
Which of your characters were inspired by Hedda? (Rannveig and Yngvar from "Sons of Disobedience" and "Lucky Wolf")
How else did “Hedda Gabler” influence you in your writings?

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This week, we’ll look at The Hermit in my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck. I chose teenage Joel Farber from my Tapas graphic novel, “The Book of Joel,” as The Hermit.

The Hermit stands by himself at the top of a mountain. His loneliness and the fact that he’s at a literal peak symbolize his spiritual growth and accomplishment. By choosing to look deep within himself, he’s reached some kind of enlightenment. Like the Hermit, Joel is on a soul-searching journey. An argumentative know-it-all who talks faster than a machine gun to "make up" (as he sees it) for his shyness and lack of self-esteem, teenaged Joel, like the Hermit in the tarot deck, knows that he needs to look deep within himself.

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Today, me and @tete.depunk talk about a course she's recently taken, Ian Chandler's "The No B.S. Freelance Writing Course."

In this podcast episode, we explore the following and more:

How did you think this course was going to be like?
What were the highlights of this course?
How much of this course did you do? As I understood, you did a one-month trial and the course was 6 weeks in total.
How have you been applying what you've learned from this course to your own writing? I know you mostly do creative writing, rather than freelance, but has it affected the way you see the writing process?
What do you think of freelance writing now that you've taken this course? How does it compare to creative writing? Of course, these can overlap, but in the context of this course, freelance writing refers to creating factual, non-fictional content for websites, ebooks, etc.
Who would you recommend this course to?
Are you interested in taking other courses like this in the future?

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Read the full transcript of this video here.

This week, we'll be taking a look at the Justice card from my tarot deck, the Fortunus Games tarot deck.

I chose Lev Abramov from my Tapas graphic novel, “Sam in New York,” as Justice. He is Sam’s father and when we meet him in the first few chapters of “Sam in New York,” he’s shown as a politically-minded man who has strong beliefs about justice. He leans left and before he immigrated to the US, he was involved in various left-wing labour movements in Odessa.

I chose to represent Justice quite differently from what we usually see (blind woman with the scales in one hand), since Lev is someone who believes in fighting for social change and smashing the “old system.” This pose is actually based on a Communist poster from the USSR.

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This week, me and R.N. Roveleh (Instagram: @helevorn_bor) discuss one of her favorite books/plays, "Ghosts" by Henrik Ibsen. We discuss the following and more:

This play, when published in 1881, was seen as shocking. It was highly criticized both in Norway and abroad, the book sold poorly, Ibsen was attacked by critics and readers and censored. In England, The Daily Telegraph reviewed it as “Positively abominable [...] An open drain: a loathsome sore unbandaged; a dirty act done publicly.... Gross, almost putrid indecorum.... Literary carrion.... Crapulous stuff". What was so scandalous about it?
What is the plot of the play?
What is Mrs. Alving like?
What’s her relationship with her son, Oswald?
What role does Pastor Manders play?
The title, translated in English as GHOSTS, actually means The ones who return. What does it refer to?
Ibsen’s Ghosts appears in your novel Equilibrium Point. Ivar and Ulf watch the play at the theatre on their first date. How do the themes of the play tie in with those of Equilibrium Point?

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Watch on YouTube. The full transcript of this video is on my site.

Frankie is The Chariot in my tarot deck (Fortunus Games Tarot)!

The Chariot symbolizes willpower and determination, which Frankie has plenty of since he has to deal with so many things as the co-owner of his family's restaurant. The Chariot also symbolizes mastery and control, and Frankie has mastered his emotions for the most part. He keeps his secret desires (such as his desire for Sam, which he believes to be unrequited) and frustrations about his life under tight wraps, believing that living like this is easier not only for himself, but for everyone around him.

What happens when a series of events cause him to lose this control...? Find out (if this will happen) in my #graphicnovel on @tapas_app, "Sam in New York" (maybe 3 years from now, since this is very far into the story).

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Tete got some new Superman comics (Golden Age canon), so we decided to flip through them (this time in detail) and talk about our impressions of some of the artwork and themes covered and how it compares to Silver Age and other things!

Short version of this flipthrough can be seen here: https://youtu.be/FRTfmVRDf0U

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Today, me and R.N. Roveleh (Instagram: @helevorn_bor) talk about Henrik Ibsen's play, "The Lady from the Sea," which subconsciously influenced her character, Merwyn, whom she's written about in the short story, "The Enchanted Isles," as part of her anthology, "Tales from the North."

Read "The Enchanted Isles" here: https://tapas.io/episode/2130584

R.N. Roveleh will also be publishing a novella about Merwyn (of the same name).

We talk about the following and more:

The play is inspired by a Scandinavian folk tale, "Agneta and the Sea King". What's the folk tale about?
What are the themes of Ibsen's play?
What's the plot of the play?
What is the main character, Ellida Wangel, like?
What's her husband like and how is their marriage?
What's her relationship with her stepdaughters?
What does the sailor, her former lover, represent?
How does Ellida compare to Merwyn?

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On Feb 19, 2022, @tete.depunk's "70 Fierce Years," her story about Andrei Novokshonov the Cossack, will be released as a series of preview chapters three times a week on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/70-Fierce-Years/info

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Hi everyone! Happy Valentine’s Day! How fitting - this week’s Tarot card is The Lovers.

Read the full transcript of this video here.

In my portrayal of The Lovers tarot card of the Major Arcana, we see none other than Malka and Joel from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel.” The uncensored version is on my Patreon, by the way, for those who are curious.

In its upright position, this card symbolizes honesty, attraction, and overcoming trials. As we’ve seen already, Joel and Malka overcome many trials, mostly internal, in “The Book of Joel.” In particular, they manage to overcome Joel’s self-sabotaging and self-flagellating tendencies. Joel is someone who has always struggled with chasing after things that he knows he will enjoy because he doesn’t want to enjoy things in life. He prefers feeling emotionally flat, as he calls it, because there’s less emotional risk involved.

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This is the second episode about reconceptualizing success and how it's like to get published. Episode 1, which focuses more on reconceptualizing success, can be found here.

Read the full transcript of this episode here.

In this episode, @tete.depunk and I interview C E Hoffman, the author of "Sluts and Whores."

“Sluts and Whores” is C’s debut collection of short stories and poems that challenge negative stereotypes of sex workers via a dark magical landscape. It was published by Thurston Howl Publications in 2021.

This powerfully-written collection is nearing its one-year anniversary so we’re going to discuss what it means to be successful. C covers how they’ve come to define success since publishing their work, while me and Tete touch on how Tapas has helped us define success. We also explore how it's like to get published and what first-time authors can do to get published.

We explore how to get published in the following episode:

Check out C's website here: https://cehoffman.net/

Buy "Sluts and Whores" through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other stores! Just Google "Sluts and Whores C E Hoffman" and you should be able to see other places you can buy the book.

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Sluts and Whores

This week's Tarot card is The Hierophant. This card features Ben Cox from my @tapas_app graphic novel, "Sam in New York." Read the full transcript of this video here.

I chose Ben as this card because The Hierophant represents tradition and convention, which Ben has always sought after. He feels quite empty on the inside, but he feels that by adhering to convention, he can quell a lot of the fears about life and human nature. As such, he chooses to adopt a "sickeningly wholesome" (as @tete.depunk describes it) persona. The two men in front of him are young Joel (on the left) and old Joel (on the right).

This is a nod to the fact that in @tete.depunk's "Scale, Blood, and Bone," the AU version of Ben, Veniamen, influences Zhuel (SBB's equivalent of Joel) to do some things that will really impact the storyline. Find out more by subscribing to "Scale, Blood, and Bone" on @tapas_app! Use @tete.depunk's link in bio to check it out!

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Tete just received TWO large packages from yours truly containing 18 books and a number of large brochures! This is essentially a reaction video showing how she's reacting to the books and the other content found within these two boxes!

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Tete reacts to me flipping through her favorite manga of all time, Oyasumi Punpun by Asano Inio! Oyasumi Punpun, also known as Goodnight Punpun, is a gut-wrenching coming-of-age story about a lonely young man with a lot of complexes. We talk about how it's influenced my work and what I love so much about it and what Tete makes of it based on a few pages I show here!

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Tete talks about her new bookshelf and what kinds of books are there. We see our friend Helevorn/R.N. Roveleh's "Lucky Wolf," my "Finding Sam" and "The Book of Joel" and a bunch of books about Cossacks and Russia that will help Tete finish Andrei's story, "70 Fierce Years"!

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Tete got some new Superman comics (Golden Age canon), so we decided to flip through them and talk about our impressions of some of the artwork and themes covered and how it compares to Silver Age and other things!

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Thumbnail art is by @wrenby_m!

@wrenby_m is be coming back to the podcast and talking about the first book of their graphic novel, "The House on Caple Hill" - The Book of Khet.

We'll be covering the following questions and more:

What are the themes of "The House on Caple Hill"?
What role does magic play in this series?
Who are Josephine and Claude?
What role does Egyptian and Welsh mythology play in this series?
Summarize the major plot points in a few sentences and without major spoilers
What role does this book play in your story as a whole?
How was it like to write "The Book of Khet"'s outline? What was the hardest and easiest part about writing this book?

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In this episode, @tete.depunk and I interview C E Hoffman, the author of "Sluts and Whores."

“Sluts and Whores” is C’s debut collection of short stories and poems that challenge negative stereotypes of sex workers via a dark magical landscape. It was published by Thurston Howl Publications in 2021.

This powerfully-written collection is nearing its one-year anniversary so we’re going to discuss what it means to be successful. C covers how they’ve come to define success since publishing their work, while me and Tete touch on how Tapas has helped us define success. We also touch upon the ups and downs of publishing and promotions.

We explore how to get published in the following episode: https://youtu.be/pfftFOmG1Tc

Check out C's website here: https://cehoffman.net/

Buy "Sluts and Whores" through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other stores! Just Google "Sluts and Whores C E Hoffman" and you should be able to see other places you can buy the book.

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Sluts and Whores

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The next Tarot card in my Tarot Analysis series is my portrayal of Joel as The Emperor! Joel is one of the main characters of my @tapas_app graphic novel, "The Book of Joel," which you can read here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

Read the transcript of this video here.

In its upright form, the Emperor stands for authority, structure, and establishment. It also represents a father figure (which Joel later becomes, as we can see in the fantasy version of his story, "Scale, Blood & Bone" by @tete.depunk on Instagram - which you can read in the link in her bio).

As @tete.depunk and I have discussed, Joel is a man of authority. Although he's not in a position of power, he has a lot of convictions and beliefs that he holds firm to and won't budge from. He takes pride in establishing a structure for himself, although this structure can sometimes become too rigid for his own good...

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Read the full transcript of this episode here.

Watch a shorter, more condensed version of this video where we listen to the music while commenting here.

Today, me and R.N. Roveleh (IG: @helevorn_bor), also known as Dr. Metalhead, join forces to review a song by the Russian pagan metal band, "Zimushka"!

Check out Dr. Metalhead's channel for more rock and metal analyses: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdVxf3vpZaj133BdVmHVKSg

Listen to Zimushka here: https://youtu.be/Q9wylzyFcKM

We got the English translation of the lyrics from here: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/zimushka-winter.html

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READ "BEYOND THE GREY SKIES" ON TAPAS: https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON's WEBSITE: https://www.endlessperiodicals.com/

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessmidnightmoon

In this episode, Endlessmidnightmoon and I cover the following:

How is writing serial fiction different from writing a regular novel?
What are the approaches that you would go for when writing serial fiction?
What sustains the interest in writing a series that lasts over a year?
Why was this series format chosen for "Beyond the Grey Skies," since writing is usually completed first then published?

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In this episode, @tete.depunk and I talk about the similarities and differences between her character, Andrei, from her novel project "70 Fierce Years," and Clark Kent/Superman!

They are both pastoral types who are motivated by a sense of duty and want to spread happiness and positivity to the people around them.

To quote Tete, "Andrei's innocence is his real tragedy and horror, very much in the vein like Clark, since both are obstinacy in their innocence and refuse to capitulate to a world that demands conformity of jadedness, apathy, and the surrender to bitterness or corruption."

We also do some comparisons between Joel vs Clark, Sam vs Clark, and Joel vs Batman. Joel is the protagonist of my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel," and he is, in many ways, the complete opposite of Andrei and Clark. He is incredibly cynical and wants to make life uglier and more boring than it actually is because he thinks emotions are unreliable and painful.

Read "The Book of Joel" here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

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Watch the full opera clip here - Mikhail Lermontov's "The Demon" Act III: https://youtu.be/3uTgVsaVIUc

Today, me and @tete.depunk talk about Mikhail Lermontov's poem, "The Demon," and how it reminds us of my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel." Tete was the first one who recognized this similarity. In particular, we focus on the similarities between the Demon and Joel and Tamara (from the poem) and Malka (from my work).

Read "The Book of Joel" here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

Painting in the thumbnail is "Tamara and the Demon" by Konstantin Makovsky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_(poem)#/media/File:Kmakovs_107.jpg

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The next Tarot card in my Tarot Analysis series is my portrayal of Malka as The Empress!

Malka is one of the main characters of my @tapas_app graphic novel, "The Book of Joel," which you can read using my link in bio.

Read the full transcript of this video here.

The Empress is a very fitting card for her because the Empress symbolizes love, fertility, and abundance in all aspects. She represents the creation of life, romance, art, and creativity itself, all of which match Malka well since Malka is interested in art, likes sketching, and of course, is romantically involved with Joel. Unlike Joel, who thought that any kind of romantic or sexual attachment was pointless before he got closer to Malka, Malka has never thought of romantic feelings as pointless.

While she knows many couples, including her own parents, who are dysfunctional, she believes that it can be a great thing if the people involved are emotionally mature, responsible, and honest with each other (of course, a bit of luck is needed as well).

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On today's episode of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, we are comparing two of our protagonists, Aidan (from @helevorn_bor's "Sons of Disobedience" and "Tales from the North," the latter of which you can read here: https://tapas.io/series/Tales-from-the-North1) and Malka (from @fortunusgames 's "The Book of Joel," which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects)

We are analysing these characters in terms of their passion for art, their warm, passionate and empathetic approach to relationships, their attitudes towards romance, and the way in which their dysfunctional families affected them. In spite of their similarities, two differ greatly, and we're also exploring these aspects.

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Tete.Depunk reacts to redacted showing off his "guns" or biceps on TikTok!

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Read Tete's blog post about this essay here: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/tetedepunk/post/superman-mythos-near-eastern-yiddish-hebraic-comparison

In this episode, me and @tete.depunk talk about an essay she wrote recently, where she explored Superman's Jewish Socialist origins and the connections between the Superman mythos and Near Eastern mythology.

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Part 1 of our Red Son discussion: https://youtu.be/eXB1h6X8g74

Our reaction video to parts of the Red Son movie: https://youtu.be/nK5e7v-W3PM

In this video, Tete.Depunk and I review the 2020 movie, "Red Son." We talk about what we didn't like about it, how we would rewrite it, and what we did like about it.

I rated the movie 3/5 stars while Tete rated it 3.5/5.

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In this episode, @tete.depunk reacts to various places in Toronto that we plan to visit later this year!

We explore:

Billy Bishop Airport
Pearson International Airport
The University of Toronto
The Royal Ontario Museum
The Art Gallery of Ontario
Casa Loma
The suburbs
And more!

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In this episode, @tete.depunk and I talk about my series, "The Book of Joel," which @tete.depunk just adores. We look at a couple of chapters/parts that she really loves.

You can read "The Book of Joel" here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

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In this episode (we should've done this a while ago), I interview @tete.depunk and she gives a short summary of what her project, "70 Fierce Years" is about! She also talks about why she loves writing and how she started writing.

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In this episode, @tete.depunk and I react to parts of the animated movie, Superman: Red Son! We talk about the Russian/Cold War stereotypes we saw in the movie, similarities with our own characters, and more of the Superman mythos!

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Watch on YouTube! Read the full transcript of the video here.

My High Priestess tarot card features Rukhel from "Scale, Blood, and Bone" by @tete.depunk, which is the AU version of my @tapas_app graphic novel, "The Book of Joel."

Unlike her canon version, Rachel Farber, Rukhel does have more spiritual leanings and more connections to magic.

Subscribe to "Scale, Blood, and Bone" using @tete.depunk's link in bio or using this URL: https://tapas.io/series/Scale-Blood--Bone/info

For full view of this tarot card, check out my Patreon, Artstation, Artrepreneur, Ko-Fi (all linked in bio) or my blog post with all the tarot cards so far: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/sam-in-new-york-tarot-cards

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Today, me and @tete.depunk are joined by our friend @ryzacobalion, a fellow Tapas writer and fan of the DC universe. He talks to us about Red Son, its connections to the Golden Age Superman, and the DC Cinematic Universe.

Check out Ryza's Tapas novel, "The Dark Children of the Night": https://tapas.io/series/The-Dark-Children-of-The-Night/info

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READ "BEYOND THE GREY SKIES" ON TAPAS: https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON's WEBSITE: https://www.endlessperiodicals.com/

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessmidnightmoon

Wondrium courses: https://www.wondrium.com/

In this episode, me and @endlessmidnightmoon talk about how she did the historical research for her series, including but not limited to "Beyond the Grey Skies"!

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Watch on YouTube to see me and Tete cosplaying as Zhuel and Malka from Tete's Tapas novel, "Scale, Blood, and Bone"!

@tete.depunk and I dress as Malka and Zhuel respectively while talking about how she's grown through her Tapas novel, "Scale, Blood, and Bone"! You can read it here: https://tapas.io/series/Scale-Blood--Bone/info

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@tete.depunk from Instagram talks about how she's decided to oust one of her characters, Kai from "Death and the Midwife" and "Union of Wave and Shore."

Working with him was more trouble than it was worth, she says, so getting rid of him has actually been a relief for her. Now she can wholly focus on Andrei from "70 Fierce Years."

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Watch on YouTube. Read the full transcript here.

Instagram: @fortunusgames

Check out all of my finished Tarot Cards here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/sam-in-new-york-tarot-cards

The third video in my Tarot Explanation series!

Here’s a breakdown of the second card of the Major Arcana, The Magician.

I explain the symbolism behind it and why I chose Sam for my version of it (the Fortunus Games Tarot deck). Sam is the main character from my @tapascommunity #graphicnovels, “Sam in New York” and “Finding Sam.”

Read “Finding Sam” for more information about how his parents see his desire to become an actor. Although “Finding Sam” isn’t canon, since it takes place in an alternative timeline, it’s a good approximation of how his parents will see his desire to become an actor and filmmaker later down the line.

In “Sam in New York,” we’re still looking at Sam’s childhood and he only starts talking about being a famous actor when he’s in university.

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In this episode, @tete.depunk and I (@fortunusgames) talk about a book we've both read, "From Ancient Writings to Sacred Texts" by S.A. Nigosian.

We covered the following:

-How the book fleshed out Biblical texts and other Near Eastern ancient texts and mythos.

-How I first came across the book in university

-How @tete.depunk reacted to the book and how it presented a different worldview of Christianity than the version she had grown up with in a strict Protestant Christian (Charismatic) household.

-How @tete.depunk’s Andrei (protagonist of her novel, “70 Fierce Years”) loves him some Near Eastern mythology, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh.

We were soon joined by our friends, @helevorn_bor and @ryzacobalion, who appeared in the chat section with their awesome comments and questions!

Check out the Google preview of the book here: https://www.google.ca/books/edition/From_Ancient_Writings_to_Sacred_Texts/gpAAKpmMHYoC?hl=en&gbpv=0

Buy @helevorn_bor's "Lucky Wolf" novel here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRez6x8l9lr/

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READ "BEYOND THE GREY SKIES" ON TAPAS: https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON's WEBSITE: https://www.endlessperiodicals.com/

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessmidnightmoon

In this episode, me and @endlessmidnightmoon will be talking about the writing style of her @tapas_app novel, “Beyond the Grey Skies”! We'll be answering these questions:

How do you work on each character?
How do you keep them separate in terms of their Identity if they are in a family?
Why do professions seem to factor so much in each character?
What if they're in a family business?
How would you say that your characterization has changed over the years?

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Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SFP7AXOkhkg

Soviet Superman Kills Comrade Stalin: https://youtu.be/CajjpdHYneM

Me (IG: @fortunusgames) and @tete.depunk react to "Soviet Superman Kills Comrade Stalin"!

For more discussions about characters (both our own and from franchises), check out our podcast, "The Nuts and Bolts of Writing."

You can follow our podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfW

As well as on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=891d1c01e3114327

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To kick off the New Year, we Yet again continue with our podcasting streak! In this podcast, we explore the character of Clark Kent/Superman and his relationship with the striking and iconic character of Lois Lane.

We explore comparisons with the iconic Man of Steel with the likes of Captain America, as well as exploring the different aspects of what makes Clark and Lois' relationship so strong, despite all the long years of various and wildly different incarnations.

Tonight, we record another Podcast comparing this pair with FortunusGames' pair of Malka and Joel from The Book of Joel and Sam in New York!

Superman #superman #dccomics #comics #dc #loislane #superman75 #dceu #dccinematicuniverse #dccomicuniverse #manofsteel #clois #clarkxlois #shipping #popculture #pop #writing #thebookofjoel #70fierceyears #captainamerica #marvel #steverogers

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To kick off the New Year, we Yet again continue with our podcasting streak! In this podcast, we explore the character of Clark Kent/Superman and his relationship with the striking and iconic character of Lois Lane.

We explore comparisons with the iconic Man of Steel with the likes of Captain America, as well as exploring the different aspects of what makes Clark and Lois' relationship so strong, despite all the long years of various and wildly different incarnations.

Tomorrow we will record yet another Podcast exploring Clark Kent, his character, and his relationship with Lois Lane!

Superman #superman #dccomics #comics #dc #loislane #superman75 #dceu #dccinematicuniverse #dccomicuniverse #manofsteel #clois #clarkxlois #shipping #popculture #pop #writing #thebookofjoel #70fierceyears #captainamerica #marvel #steverogers

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On YouTube.

On Instagram.

Description written by @helevorn_bor:

Happy New Year, everyone!!! 🥂🍾🎊 I hope you've all had a wonderful start of 2022! 😊

I'm talking today to @fortunusgames about what I've accomplished in 2021 - what I've been writing and illustrating, as well as the book that I've published traditionally, "Lucky Wolf"! I'm talking about the publishing process and why I chose to go with a small publishing company.

Find out what else I'm writing and what I'll be publishing in 2022!

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Watch this on YouTube! Read the full transcript here.

From @fortunusgames:

Check out all of my finished Tarot Cards here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/sam-in-new-york-tarot-cards

Happy New Year, everyone! 🥳 Here’s a breakdown of the first (though it depends!) card of the Major Arcana, The Fool. I explain the symbolism behind it and why I chose Sam for my version of it. Sam is the main character from my @tapascommunity #graphicnovels, “Sam in New York” and “Finding Sam.”

Read “Finding Sam” for more information about how his parents see his desire to become an actor. Although “Finding Sam” isn’t canon, since it takes place in an alternative timeline, it’s a good approximation of how his parents will see his desire to become an actor and filmmaker later down the line.

In “Sam in New York,” we’re still looking at Sam’s childhood and he only starts talking about being a famous actor when he’s in university.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Watch this on YouTube!

Read the full transcript of this video here.

Thank you so much for supporting my work this year!

Here’s a breakdown of the last card of the Major Arcana, The World. I explain the symbolism behind it and why I chose Sam and Lina for my version of it.

Sam and Lina are characters from my @tapascommunity #graphicnovels, “Sam in New York” and “Finding Sam.” Read “Finding Sam” for more information about them as a couple, since Lina won’t appear in “Sam in New York” until 2023 or 2024.

We’re still looking at Sam’s childhood and he only meets her when he’s in university, so…

I’ll be making more videos like this in 2022 dissecting my tarot cards! Check all of them out here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/sam-in-new-york-tarot-cards

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Endlessmidnightmoon's description:

A full episode talking about my New Year's Resolution for 2022 and what I learned in 2021.

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Description written by Tete.Depunk:

Happy New Year 2022! Happy New Year to everyone!

Happy New Year to all our awesome friends, our awesome supporters, and everyone else who has helped us journey through this remarkable path of this year!

As we venture into the New Year, we intend to explore further and deeper, while realizing many of our ambitions!!

We hope that you guys have many wonderful projects this year and that may they all prosper within this year!

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Art and description by Tete.Depunk:

Tonight, we yet again continue our stream of live podcasting!! What better way to celebrate the last of the holidays than withen with a week of podcasting?

In this podcast, we explore the differences between my old character Natalia, versus the newer reincarnation, Tamara, from "70 Fierce Years".

We discuss not only the differences but the similarities in many aspects of these 2 women's lives, including personality, social perception, and sexuality.

Heads up, though! There are a ton of spoilers for Tamara's story! Listen at your own risk if you're all right spoilers!

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Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lz7eVzVmnvM

@tete.depunk and I, @fortunusgames, explore Liyue Harbour in Genshin Impact while me and Tete talk about worldbuilding for fantasy series, including her fantasy series on Tapas, "Scale, Blood, and Bone."

You can read it here: https://tapas.io/series/Scale-Blood--Bone/info

Shoutout to @endlessmidnightmoon for inspiring us to think more about worldbuilding!

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Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Qqskn4VD_lo

@tete.depunk and I, @fortunusgames, try something totally new - podcasting while gaming! Here, I explore Stormterror's Lair in Genshin Impact while me and Tete talk about worldbuilding for fantasy series, including her fantasy series on Tapas, "Scale, Blood, and Bone."

You can read "Scale, Blood, and Bone" here: https://tapas.io/series/Scale-Blood--Bone/info

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On YouTube: https://youtu.be/L8dleAAjs5c

@tete.depunk and I, @fortunusgames, try something totally new - podcasting while gaming! Here, I explore Mondstadt in Genshin Impact while me and Tete talk about worldbuilding for fantasy series, including her fantasy series on Tapas, "Scale, Blood, and Bone."

You can read it here: https://tapas.io/series/Scale-Blood--Bone/info

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@tete.depunk and I recorded our third podcast today, and it’s about Malka’s Sexuality!

We continue from where we left off last time in “Malka’s Sexuality (1),” and make the following points:

-Malka wants to be consumed by Joel’s dark, intense, and mysterious allure. As Tete put it, she is the white swan being swallowed by the storm. She is the maiden seeking the truth about the world.

-Malka has always been intrigued by Joel’s mind and how he overthinks everything. She wonders why he does this and this makes her want to understand him more.

-There’s this instinctual spark between them that’s hard to explain. They just feel like loving and exploring each other the more they interact with each other.

-Malka knows Joel has a lot to give and she wants him to realize that he can overcome his self-imposed barriers of self-denial and hubris. She knows he is hurting and wants to love but his pride and distortions are preventing him from doing this, so she wants to help him break down these barriers.

Artwork here is my Queen of Cups illustration featuring Malka!

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Description written by Tete.Depunk:

Our 2nd Podcast of the night, we discuss the origins origins of my character, Kai Tomassen, from my upcoming novel, "Death and the Midwife".

Because of this character's elusive nature and sparse communication (and my own stubborn, immature lack of communication with Kai), unfortunately, he became unwittingly attached to an entirely different character, the character of Lord frost, from an entirely different series, "Gerda and the Frost Lord".

We discuss the origins of the Frost Lord, and how he's an entirely different character from Kai, and how Kai came into his own- especially in the recent months, when Kai has revealed himself to be a different ethnicity than what I previously assumed him to be.

Join us in a frank and open discussion of a creator's struggles of discovering the true identity of one's characters!

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In this episode, Fortunus Games and Tete review "And Quiet Flows the Don"!

We explore the virtues and shortcomings of this literary masterpiece, including why it is a great political and social epic, but also why it sometimes falls flat concerning full and complete characterization lacking.

We also draw comparisons to the development of Tete's novel, "70 Fierce Years", which deals with the same subject as Sholokhov's epic: the life of dawn cossacks during the rise of the Russian Soviet Union.

Merry Christmas! 🎄

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Description written by Tete.Depunk:

Merry Christmas to all! As stated on @nutsboltswriting.podcast, and at @Fortunusgames' Instagram, we are gifting you guys with full podcasts on Instagram live that you can watch right here on IG!

Our 3rd and final Podcast for Christmas Day deals with writing about my character, Kai Tomassen, and the development of his own sexuality. The artwork of Kai in the thumbnail is by Fortunus Games!

We explore how forcing ideals or not listening to your character can really limit your character and character and the complete picture of their own person coma and that includes the aspect of their sexuality and their approach to it.

We also engage in a humorous little role play with Kai, Joel, and Andrei, on the side, lol!

Merry Christmas! 🎄

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This is the second episode with @tete.depunk for this #christmas night! Listen to the whole podcast here! We will also be posting this to our usual platforms later tonight and tomorrow.

In this episode, we talk about how Joel’s sexuality evolved, how he compares to Philip Roth’s characters like Portnoy, Nathan, and Henry, and Tete’s characters, Andrei and Tatusuya.

Highlights:

-with Joel, I wanted to go against the tendency of some authors to either over-idealize male sexuality or characterize it as overly threatening.

-Joel’s an introverted seducer, while Andrei is an extroverted one

-Joel’s biggest flaw is his self-isolation and feeling that everything is pointless. He is also extremely proud of how skeptical he is compared to everyone else.

-Joel likes slow lead-ups to sexual encounters with Malka and he likes to observe all of her reactions. He is powered by empathy and love towards her and wants to make her feel comfortable. This is why his and Malka’s relationship is so healthy.

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Merry Christmas! 🎄

One of our Christmas gifts to you this year is a series of FULL podcasts we are releasing on Instagram (and on the other usual platforms)!

The first podcast is about #literaryfiction and how some of these books can help us determine the voice of a character. We talk about Romantic authors like Herman Melville, Jules Verne, Soren Kierkegaard, and modern authors like Philip Roth and William Faulkner.

Works discussed include:

-"Moby Dick" by Melville 🐳

-"Around the World in 80 Days" by Verne

-"Diary of a Seducer" by Kierkegaard

"Portnoy's Complaint," "Operation Shylock," and "The Counterlife" by Roth

-"The Sound and the Fury" by Faulkner

We include quotes from some of these works and talk about how we can hear the characters’ voices through these works. We also had a blast talking about why @tete.depunk didn’t like one of my faves, The Counterlife. I’ll admit, it’s an acquired taste!

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One of the podcasts me and @tete.depunk are recording this Christmas Eve and Christmas!

We talk about our achievements this year, especially how we:

-changed our creative habits,

-started using @tapascommunity more, which helped us to “get off our asses and start writing,”

-stopped relying on surges of inspiration, and

-started disciplining ourselves to do more every day.

This is a FULL podcast episode that you can listen to directly on my Instagram! It's also on my YouTube and the other typical locations you can see on our podcast’s Anchor.fm profile.

—

podcast #podcaster #fullpodcastepisode #tetedepunk #writingadvice #tapas #tapascommunity

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On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZikAfMVfio

In this episode, we'll be talking about how @tete.depunk did her research for "70 Fierce Years" (Andrei's story) and "Union of Wave and Shore" (Kai and Gerda's story).

The questions we'll be covering today:

For "70 Fierce Years":

When did you first get the idea for 70 Fierce Years?
When did you start gathering research for the series and how has your research method for the series changed over the years?
Which was the hardest part of researching for 70 Fierce Years?
What is the easiest part?

For "Union of Wave and Shore":

How was researching for a story set in 19th century Norway different from researching for pagan lore (which you used to write the fantasy version of Gerda and Kai)?
Are there any writers, like Sholokhov for the Cossacks, who you can use as a starting point? How about Henrik Ibsen's works?

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This time, catch us talking about the recent roleplay, "The Well-Dressed Stranger," that we did that will be coming out on the 20th till the 25th as part of Endlessmidnightmoon's "Journal of Extras": https://tapas.io/series/The-Journal-of-Extras/info

Art of Annibale (right) and Frankie (left) is by Fortunus Games!

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In this episode, @helevorn_bor and I, @fortunusgames, compare two of our characters, Ivar (from "Equilibrium Point") and Joel ("The Book of Joel," which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects).

Both of them are cynical and skeptical towards relationships, which they find trivial, distracting, and leading to loss of control. But while Ivar is rather indifferent towards this topic and dismisses it entirely, Joel imposes himself these barriers willingly.

These comparisons are exercises in both character development and psychology, because we get to explore how characters/people can have certain similar traits which stem from different motivations and elicit different behaviours (according to their own temperament and experiences).

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On today's episode of @fortunusgames 's The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, @helevorn_bor discuss with @fortunusgames and @wrenby_m the process of doing historical research when you're writing a story.

This applies both to historical fiction, such as Helevorn's "Lucky Wolf" (Old Norse culture), and to fantasy, like Wren's "The House on Caple Hill" (ancient Egyptian and Celtic).

This conversation will feature some of techniques and sources we used, as well as readings from Lucky Wolf of those scenes that were most heavily researched (along with the sources that inspired Helevorn).

--

"Lucky Wolf" is now out in hard copy and you can buy it through Helevorn - check out her Instagram post to find out more: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRez6x8l9lr/

You can also read "Lucky Wolf" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/lucky-wolf/info

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Watch on YouTube (we browse through Tete's DeviantArt gallery): https://youtu.be/HSMusOKXyv0

Tete's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk/

Tete's Tapas page: https://tapas.io/TeteDePunk

Tete's deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk/

@tete.depunk has joined Tapas this year and become rooted in the fantastic community of Tapas! To both of us, Tapas has proven a far and vastly superior improvement over the limitations of dA. Tapas has provided an ideal and innovative platform to share our writing. For Tete, Tapas has also helped her to grow confident as a writer in terms of efficiency, proficiency, as well as being able to share and interact with like-minded writers.

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Watch on YouTube (we browse through Tete's DeviantArt gallery): https://youtu.be/3PHyeXTaJcA

Tete's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk/

Tete's Tapas page: https://tapas.io/TeteDePunk

Tete's deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk/

Just as the title says, in this episode @tete.depunk and I, @fortunusgames will be exploring, how, despite the temptation of having a fantastic couple and all the shipping feels, sometimes the fixation and hyperfocus on romantic couples can be detrimental to a writer, especially a writer trying to develop full characters and an immersive world.

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In this episode, @tete.depunk and I, @fortunusgames, talk about my character, Malka Spitzer, from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects).

Artwork in thumbnail is by me. It's the cover page for Chapter 4 of "The Book of Joel."

We discuss the following and more:

What does Malka find attractive about Joel?
Has Malka always found Joel sexually alluring? Why or why not?
How does Malka perceive Joel's self-contained sexuality?
Is Malka frustrated by Joel's self-denial and self-contained-ness? How would she react to some of his thoughts (if she found out about them) about "minimalistic living"?
What does Malka find irritating about Joel?
What's Malka and Joel's sex life like? How does it compare to the sex in "bodice ripper" novels?

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Watch on YouTube (we go through Tete's DeviantArt gallery): https://youtu.be/DaaZbS7RLMg

Tete's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk/

Tete's Tapas page: https://tapas.io/TeteDePunk

Tete's deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk/

Ardalion's character profile: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/ardalion-mayakov

Thumbnail art is by me, @fortunusgames, and features @tete.depunk's character, Natalia, and my character, Ardalion.

In this episode, @tete.depunk and I, @fortunusgames, explore how a 2016 roleplay between Ardalion and Natalia changed her views on male sexuality. Needless to say, the role play was a pivotal turning point for her, because it transformed her entire outlook on male sexuality in broad terms and in very specific terms. Prior to the role play, Tete had a lot of misconceptions and misinformed biases which led her to create, in her words, "stilted and soulless characters steeped in idealism, like innocent fairy tales, not actual human souls." Here, we explore how the role-play came to be!

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In this episode, Tete and I, Fortunus Games, talk about my character, Joel Farber, from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects).

Artwork in thumbnail is by me.

Specifically, this is part 3 of me and @tete.depunk’s episodes about Joel’s sexuality. In this episode, we'll talk about how Joel’s sexuality is self-contained and how others perceive his sexuality, even when he is a self-denier who wants to remain single. We will also, of course, talk about how Malka perceives his sexuality during this time and how her perceptions develop as they get closer.

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In this podcast episode, me and @helevorn_bor do a recap of the interview I had with Pure Arts Group (site: https://www.pureartsgroup.co.uk)!

Last week, I had an amazing interview with Pure Arts Group about how I got started on my creative journey. We talked about the role that deviantArt and Tapas played and also discussed how my personal life affected my decision to throw myself into writing Sam and Joel's stories.

Check out their YouTube channel to watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/U8YtXrFFU88

I also posted about this on my blog: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/pure-art360-edition-3-live-imelda-wei-ding-lo-and-lesley-samms

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Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qduZ3SlYCeM

On this episode of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, @fortunusgames and @helevorn_bor will be discussing Helevorn's novel "Equilibrium Point" for the first time!

"Equilibrium Point" began as a challenge, as an Alternative History (AU) version of Helevorn's Viking Age novel "Lucky Wolf", but then developed into a stand-alone novel set in present day Norway. Less dramatic, more realistic, deeper from a psychological standpoint, "Equilibrium Point" is a slice-of-life story that explores new themes and puts the characters in situations we haven't seen them in.

Can an AU be a deep and complex story? What do you think?

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In this episode, @fortunusgames and @endlessmidnightmoon talk about @endlessmidnightmoon's newest Tapas series, her anthology, "Seeking Lull Tides." We discuss why she decided to write this anthology and what the short stories will be about.

Read/sub to "Seeking Lull Tides" here: https://tapas.io/series/seeking-lull-tides/info

Read/sub to her main series, "Beyond the Grey Skies": https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON's WEBSITE: https://www.endlessperiodicals.com/

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessmidnightmoon

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Part Two of an audio roleplay of the short story that @tete.depunk and @fortunusgames wrote for Halloween 2021, "The Soul's Landscape." Read it here.

It's about what happens if Fortunus Games' Joel chooses to stay a self-denier for the rest of his life...and what happens when Tete's Kai Haldersen comes knocking on his door.

Joel is from Fortunus Games' graphic novel, "The Book of Joel," which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects

Kai is from @tete.depunk's upcoming series, "Death and the Midwife." He'll also be in a story set in 19th century Norway, called "Union of Wave and Shore."

Thumbnail art is by Fortunus Games.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Part One of an audio roleplay of the short story that @tete.depunk and @fortunusgames wrote for Halloween 2021, "The Soul's Landscape." Read it here.

It's about what happens if Fortunus Games' Joel chooses to stay a self-denier for the rest of his life...and what happens when Tete's Kai Haldersen comes knocking on his door.

Joel is from Fortunus Games' graphic novel, "The Book of Joel," which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects

Kai is from @tete.depunk's upcoming series, "Death and the Midwife." He'll also be in a story set in 19th century Norway, called "Union of Wave and Shore."

Thumbnail art is by Fortunus Games.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode on @nutsboltswriting.podcast, we will discover the similarities and differences between my Malka (from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel") and @helevorn_bor’s Rannveig (from the sequel to "Lucky Wolf," "Sons of Disobedience")!

Buy "Lucky Wolf" here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRez6x8l9lr/

Read "The Book of Joel" here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

Although these ladies both have red hair, they have many more differences than similarities. Rannveig appears tougher, more rebellious, and more provocative than Malka, who appears more thoughtful, introspective, and artistic. In some ways, Malka has a lot in common with Rannveig’s partner, Aidan. We’ll also discover Malka and Rannveig’s relationships with their partners, Aidan and Joel, respectively, and what attracts them to each other.

Thumbnail image of Rannveig (left) and Malka (right) are from my Sims. Check out more Sims content on my other Instagram account, @saminsims4!

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WATCH ON YOUTUBE to see us flipping through the book: https://youtu.be/9JHAkP-MILE

In this episode, @tete.depunk and @fortunusgames review and flip through R.N. Roveleh (@helevorn_bor)'s first-ever hard copy novel, "Lucky Wolf"!

We discuss why we love the seemingly cold and aloof Yngvar so much, why Tete is part of the "Yngvar Protection Squad," and why the Midsummer scene in this book was one of the most moving scenes in literature. Additionally, we talk about Aidan and his deep friendship with Yngvar, which will be explored in the sequel, "Sons of Disobedience."

To buy a copy of "Lucky Wolf," check out Helevorn's Instagram post to find out more: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRez6x8l9lr/

You can also read "Lucky Wolf" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/lucky-wolf/info

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In this episode, @helevorn_bor and I, @fortunusgames, do a character comparison of her Aidan (from "Sons of Disobedience," the sequel to "Lucky Wolf") to my Joel (from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel").

Buy "Lucky Wolf" here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRez6x8l9lr/

Read "The Book of Joel" here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

@fortunusgames 's Joel from "Book of Joel" and Aidan from @helevorn_bor's "Sons of Disobedience" are two intellectually-inclined and introverted young men who find love when they least expected it. Despite these similarities, however, they have a lot of differences, from their motivations to their views and the way they express themselves.

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WATCH ON YOUTUBE to see us flip through the book: https://youtu.be/QwgTbfsvJHE

In this episode, @tete.depunk and @fortunusgames review and flip through @fortunusgames' hard copy of her graphic novel, "The Book of Joel: Volume One"!

This hard copy contains a beautiful introduction written by @tete.depunk (which is only available in this hard copy and on the ebook version of "The Book of Joel: Volume One" - more info below), character profiles, and the Prologue up to the end of Chapter 3 (that means content up to February 2022). At the end, I've also amassed some of the best comments you guys have left on Tapas for this series!

Buy "The Book of Joel: Volume One" e-book here.

Read "The Book of Joel" here.

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In this episode, Tete and I, Fortunus Games, talk about my character, Malka Spitzer, from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects).

Artwork in thumbnail is by me. It's the tarot card of Malka as The Empress: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/9mxVyW

We talk about the process I went through to develop Joel's sexuality and how it is an integral part of his personality. In particular, we discuss the following and more:

How does Malka differ from "bodice ripper" female protagonists?
How does Malka view Joel compared to how the "bodice ripper" female protagonists view their male love interests?
How does Malka view love, romance, and sexuality?
How does Malka's nuanced personality compared to "bodice ripper" personalities and tropes?
How does Malka view sexual and emotional fulfillment compared to "bodice ripper" heroines?
How is Malka's first impression of Joel? What does she think of men in general, and does she distrust Joel (like most "bodice ripper" women do) when she first meets him when they are children?

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In this episode, Tete and I, Fortunus Games, talk about my character, Joel Farber, from my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects).

Artwork in thumbnail is by me.

We talk about the process I went through to develop Joel's sexuality and how it is an integral part of his personality. In particular, we discuss the following and more:

How does Joel differ from "bodice ripper" male protagonists?
How Joel challenges toxic masculinity as embodied in "bodice ripper" novels
How does Joel express his sexuality and auto-eroticism?
How does Joel connect with someone to express his sexuality?

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Read "The Enchanted Isles" by Helevorn: https://tapas.io/episode/2130584

Helevorn's Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Art in the thumbnail is by Helevorn.

Today we're analyzing one of Helevorn's short-stories called "The Enchanted Isles". Set in 10th century England it is the story about imagination, the creation of fiction, escapism, the supernatural and motherhood. The protagonists are Merwyn, an aristocrat from Northumbria, and her little boy Aidan. We're going to talk about story making, Celtic mythology and Anglo-Saxon poetry 😊

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In this episode, @fortunusgames and @tete.depunk talk about which Tarot cards the cast of @tete.depunk's novel, "70 Fierce Years." Watch the YouTube version for visuals, since Tete walks us through her scrapbook: https://youtu.be/RmRTpbLJ80s

You will learn more about the updates to the novel, such as Kirka's betrayal and how it affects Andrei, Andrei's boisterous aunt Pelegaya, and most importantly, his wife (replacing Dasha in the draft version), Tamara.

Scrapbooking in the thumbnail is by Tete.Depunk.

Buy the draft version of "70 Fierce Years" (which is a "skeleton" novel since it only contains a number of scenes and none of the new characters mentioned above and in this episode) here: https://www.amazon.ca/70-Fierce-Years-Theresa-Carstetter-ebook/dp/B08GZWJR89

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70 Fierce Years

Read "The Linden Trees" by Helevorn on Tapas: tapas.io/episode/2073117

Helevorn's Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Art in the thumbnail is by Helevorn!

Today we're analyzing one of Helevorn's short-stories called "The Linden Trees". Set in 10th century Normandy, it is the story of a past relationship, of love, restraint, loyalty and time, from the perspective of an Anglo-Saxon protagonist, Ædgar.

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Tete's Instagram: @tete.depunk

Artwork in the thumbnail is a collage done by Tete using ephemera.

In this episode. Tete and I, @fortunusgames, talk about how she's been working on a new story, "Union of Wave and Shore," about her characters Gerda and Kai in 19th century Norway. Now that they've been removed from their original fantasy setting (as seen in OC-training on deviantArt), Tete wants to explore their confluence and growing love for one another that they never expected to experience in their lifetimes.

As Tete wrote on her Instagram: "in this story, they are humans living in 19th century Norway, who must contend with an arranged marriage in the midst of a property will conflict in an embittered family feud..."

We also explore what influenced her to focus on the more naturalistic aspects of Gerda and Kai's personal lives. Besides my graphic novel, "The Book of Joel," there are three other books/movies/performances that inspired her...can you guess what they are?

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Wren's Instagram: @wrenby_m

In this episode, me and Wren talk about their upcoming graphic novel, "The House on Caple Hill," and how Tolkien influenced their work.

Art in thumbnail is from Pinterest (fair use, education) and I'm not sure who the original creator is - https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/437130707576724255/

We go through the following questions:

1) Will your graphic novel “The House on Caple Hill” have a lot of world-building, since it is a more character-driven work? What role will world-building play in “The House on Caple Hill”?

2) Which culture (I.e. Elvish, Dwarven, etc.) in Tolkien’s work was the most inspirational for you?

3) Did Tolkien’s writing style have an impact on how you’ll be writing your graphic novel? How about the framing of events and pacing?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete and I, Fortunus Games, talk about my character, Joel Farber, from her graphic novel, "The Book of Joel" (which you can read here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects).

Artwork in thumbnail is by me and is a panel from Chapter 2 of "The Book of Joel," showing Joel and Malka coming together as lovers.

We talk about the process I went through to develop Joel's sexuality and how it is an integral part of his personality. In particular, we discuss the following and more:

Why did it take me so long to realize certain things about Joel?
Why did I fear focusing too much on Joel's sexual life and his views on his own sexual feelings? Did I feel that it would become too one-note? Did Tete feel similarly regarding her character Andrei's robust sexuality?
How does Joel's sexuality compare to Tete's Andrei and Kai?
How does Joel's sexuality change after he forms a relationship with Malka?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, I, Fortunus Games, interview Helevorn (Instagram: @helevorn_bor) about how Tolkien's writings influenced her novels, "Sons of Disobedience" and "Lucky Wolf"!

"Lucky Wolf" is now out in hard copy and you can buy it through Helevorn - check out her Instagram post to find out more: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRez6x8l9lr/

You can also read "Lucky Wolf" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/lucky-wolf/info

Check out Helevorn's fanart of Tolkien characters on her deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/helevornart/gallery/46461480/lord-of-the-rings

Art in thumbnail is from Pinterest (fair use, education) and I'm not sure who the original creator is - https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/437130707576724255/

We cover the following questions in this podcast episode:

Tolkien’s world building is inspired from history and medieval literature, particularly Old Norse. How do you see this influence in his writings?
Your own writings draw on the same source of Old Norse literature. Was this influenced by Tolkien?
How did Tolkien’s world building (informed as it is by history) affect the way you developed your novel, Sons of Disobedience?
Did Tolkien’s Dwarves influence your Norse characters in any way, since they are inspired by Norse culture?
What similarities between historical and fantasy world building are there? How does research inform both? And what are the differences?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

READ "SCALE, BLOOD & BONE" here: https://tapas.io/series/Scale-Blood--Bone/infoTete's

Instagram: @tete.depunk

Cover art of "Scale, Blood & Bone" is done by Tete.Depunk!

Today, Tete and I talk about her new Tapas novel, "Scale, Blood, and Bone," and how it was inspired by my Tapas graphic novel, "The Book of Joel."

We talk about how "The Book of Joel" influenced "Scale, Blood, and Bone," particularly how she was struck by my portrayal of Joel and Malka's relationship. She was particularly interested in how Joel and Malka's relationship was so organic and lacked ulterior motives, and this resembles not only Zhuel and Malka's relationship in "Scale, Blood, and Bone," but also in her upcoming series where her characters Gerda and Kai are now humans in our world.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Wren's Instagram: @wrenby_m

Helevorn's Instagram: @helevorn_bor

In this episode, I interview Wren and Helevorn about how J.R.R. Tolkien's works influenced them and how they first came across his works. We talk about the differences between the Lord of the Rings books vs. the movies, why The Hobbit is easier to get into than LOTR for many people, and lesser-known Tolkien works as well.

Art in thumbnail is from Pinterest (fair use, education) and I'm not sure who the original creator is - https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/437130707576724255/

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

READ "SCALE, BLOOD & BONE" here: https://tapas.io/series/Scale-Blood--Bone/info

Tete's Instagram: @tete.depunk

Cover art of "Scale, Blood & Bone" is done by Tete.Depunk!

Today, Tete and I talk about her new Tapas novel, "Scale, Blood, and Bone," and how it was inspired by my Tapas graphic novel, "The Book of Joel."

We also talk about why she chose to post it on Tapas instead of deviantArt and what prompted her to leave deviantArt! We reminisce about OC-training on deviantArt and discuss a bit about how Tete's character Andrei has changed since he was in OC-training back in 2017.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/ro7SyNQQNvE

READ "BEYOND THE GREY SKIES" ON TAPAS: https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON's WEBSITE: https://www.endlessperiodicals.com/

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessmidnightmoon

In this episode, me and @endlessmidnightmoon will be talking about the writing style of her @tapas_app novel, “Beyond the Grey Skies”!

Specifically, we’ll be going through these questions:

What writing styles has influenced you in writing Beyond The Grey Skies?
How did you use it to write alternate history?
What other genres beyond alternative history are in the novel? How do they interact with alternative history?
What is the plot structure of the story?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

On YouTube: https://youtu.be/eXsWwk7BO4I

Wren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wrenby_m

In this episode, I interview @wrenby_m on Instagram about their upcoming graphic novel, "The House on Caple Hill," which can be described as a fantasy or magic realism work about a young woman finding herself and finding bits of her soul.

In this episode, we talk about the 9 parts of the soul according to Egyptian mythology and how these parts will be explored in "The House on Caple Hill."

Art on the thumbnail shows Anubis.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/R_2IbLwdxBo

READ "BEYOND THE GREY SKIES" ON TAPAS: https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON's WEBSITE: https://www.endlessperiodicals.com/

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessmidnightmoon

This podcast episode on @nutsboltswriting.podcast, me and @endlessmidnightmoon (from Instagram) are going to be talking about her @tapas_app novel, “Beyond the Grey Skies,” which is an #alternativehistory novel that takes place primarily in an alternate Southern Europe.

We talk about the main characters of "Beyond the Grey Skies," the De Moreni siblings - Annibale, Aurelia, and Amaranta.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

An audio roleplay featuring @tete.depunk's Tamara and my character, Malka.

Malka and Tamara befriend each other and talk about their friendships and relationships with others on the Lower East Side, including Andrei, Sam, and Joel.

Artwork of Joel is by Fortunus Games and artwork of Tamara is by Tete.Depunk (colouring by Fortunus Games).

Read Joel's character profile: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/joel-farber

Malka's character profile: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/malka-spitzer

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

An audio roleplay featuring @tete.depunk's Tamara and my character, Joel.

This is an alternative retelling of Joel's first meeting with Tamara, EP. 69 of this podcast, which you can listen to here: https://youtu.be/Q3VagIo7Z1U

Artwork of Joel is by Fortunus Games and artwork of Tamara is by Tete.Depunk (colouring by Fortunus Games).

Read Joel's character profile: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/joel-farber

Malka's character profile: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/malka-spitzer

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, me and Tete interview @wrenby_m on Instagram about their upcoming graphic novel, "The House on Caple Hill," which can be described as a fantasy or magic realism work about a young woman finding herself and finding bits of her soul.

Art on the thumbnail is by @wrenby_m.

Wren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wrenby_m

We ask the following and more:

Could you summarize what your graphic novel is about?
What’s your inspiration for the work?
When did you start having ideas for it and how has it changed over the years?
What art style will you use and how does it reflect the characters, themes, etc.?
What is the genre of your work?
Where can we expect to read it in the near future?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

READ "BEYOND THE GREY SKIES" ON TAPAS: https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON's WEBSITE: https://www.endlessperiodicals.com/

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessmidnightmoon

This podcast episode on @nutsboltswriting.podcast, me and @endlessmidnightmoon (from Instagram) are going to be talking about her @tapas_app novel, “Beyond the Grey Skies,” which is an #alternativehistory novel that takes place primarily in an alternate Southern Europe.

We explore the following questions:

How big is the scope of the world? What other countries are there?
Why is there quite a lot of focus on capitalism?
How far would you say that the current world is industrialized in parallel to our world?
How is the trade and relations within the entire continent like?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

ON YOUTUBE (video included, with visuals): https://youtu.be/AGlTb0aYJHU

Me and @tete.depunk (from Instagram) talk about three of my art pieces of Joel being featured in The Holy Art's virtual exhibit, Reflections.

Read more about my art being in The Holy Art (with links to the gallery): https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/exhibition-reflections-room-iii-the-holy-art

Read "The Book of Joel" on Tapas: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writingPODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/ Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Helevorn's "Tales From the North" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Tales-from-the-North1/info

Follow Helevorn on Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Follow me on Instagram: @fortunusgames

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fortunusgames

Artwork in the thumbnail is from the Cradle of Filth.

In this episode, we are going to analyse 3 Cradle of Filth songs: "The Byronic Man”, from the 2006 album Thornography; “Forgive me Father” from the 2011 album Evermore Darkly; and “The Death of Love”, from the 2008 album Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder (a concept album centered on the life and crimes of Gilles de Rais and his love for Joan of Arc).

We cover the following and more:

Last time we discussed several themes characteristic of Cradle of Filth’s lyrics. Which of these themes are encountered in these particular 3 songs?
You mentioned before the female characters of COF. Do the last 2 songs also portray different types of femininity?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete and Fortunus talk about "The Counterlife" by Philip Roth, one of Fortunus' favorite novels that Tete also read a few years ago.

We talk about how our views of this metafictional novel have changed since we first read it back in 2016 and how it explores the following themes:

The nature of writing as a writer
Using writing as a way of conducting thought experiments
Siblings whose lives branch off and contrast one another
Characters as amalgamations of ourselves and people in real life

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

An audio roleplay featuring @tete.depunk's Tamara and my character, Joel.

This takes place after Tete's Andrei and Joel argue about why Joel is not approaching his potential love interest, Malka, and prefers sulking and hoping his feelings for her will pass, because he thinks there is no point in having a relationship. Andrei decides to introduce Joel to Tamara, a woman whom he hopes will change the stubborn young man's mind.

Artwork of Joel is by Fortunus Games and artwork of Tamara is by Tete.Depunk (colouring by Fortunus Games).

Read Joel's character profile: Joel Farber - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Malka's character profile: Malka Spitzer - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Happy Mother's Day!

This is an audio roleplay featuring @tete.depunk's Tamara and my characters from my Tapas, Webtoon, and TheNinth.art graphic novel, "Sam in New York," Sam and his mother, Raisa.

Get ready to learn more about Tamara in the upcoming weeks. Learn more about her in Episode 68 of this podcast, which is also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ltwkpMagKCw

Artwork of Sam and Raisa is by Fortunus Games and artwork of Tamara is by Tete.Depunk (colouring by Fortunus Games).

Read Sam's character profile: Samuel Abramov - Character File (fortunusgames.com)

Raisa's character profile: Raisa Abramova - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Tete talks about Tamara, a new character who will have a large impact on Andrei in her story, "70 Fierce Years". She replaces Dasha as Andrei's wife.

We talk about how Tamara is somewhat inspired by an older character of hers, Natalia, and how Natalia has "grown up" since becoming Tamara.

Artwork by Andrei is by Tete.Depunk.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Her DA: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Artwork here is by Fortunus Games and the audio was edited with Anchor.fm, where we also got the music transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and my character Ardalion Mayakov! This is an alternative universe (AU) role play where Ardalion and Andrei are in 1930s Russia.

Ardalion is a character from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York." His canonical setting is 1920s Lower East Side, New York City.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novel "Sam in New York": Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Ardalion here: Ardalion Ivanovich Mayakov - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete and I discuss her return to Andrei Novokshonov's story. We talk about the changes she's made to his story since 2020 and why she's made these changes. The most major change we discuss here is the addition of new characters such as Tamara and Elena, and the deletion of older characters like Dasha.

Artwork by Andrei is by me, Fortunus Games.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Her DA: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Artwork here is by Fortunus Games and the audio was edited with Anchor.fm, where we also got the music transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and my character Ardalion Mayakov! This is an alternative universe (AU) role play where Ardalion and Andrei are in 1930s Russia.

Ardalion is a character from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York." His canonical setting is 1920s Lower East Side, New York City.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novel "Sam in New York": Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Ardalion here: Ardalion Ivanovich Mayakov - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Artwork featuring Joel is by Fortunus Games and this episode was edited on Anchor.fm, where we also got our transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and Joel Farber!

Joel is the main character of the upcoming graphic novel by Fortunus Games, "The Book of Joel," and is also a side character in the graphic novel, "Sam in New York."

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novels (preview, in the case of Joel's story) are here: Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Joel here: Joel Farber - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Artwork here is by Fortunus Games and the audio was edited with Anchor.fm, where we also got the music transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Lera (Valeriy) Zimin, and Katya Luneva! This is an alternative universe (AU) role play where Katya and Andrei are in 1930s Russia.

Katya is a character from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York." Her canonical setting is 1920s Lower East Side, New York City.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novel "Sam in New York": Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Katya here: Katya Luneva - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

READ THE PROLOGUE/TEASER OF "THE BOOK OF JOEL" HERE: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

For more information on the series, check out my site: https://www.fortunusgames.com.

Check out Malka's character profile: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/malka-spitzer

Check out Joel's character profile: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/joel-farber

Follow Tete on Instagram: @tete.depunk

Follow her on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Artwork here is by Fortunus Games and the audio was edited with Anchor.fm, where we also got the music transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and Katya Luneva! This is an alternative universe (AU) role play where Katya and Andrei are in 1930s Russia.

Katya is a character from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York." Her canonical setting is 1920s Lower East Side, New York City.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novel "Sam in New York": Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Katya here: Katya Luneva - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

READ "BEYOND THE GREY SKIES" ON TAPAS: https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

ENDLESSMIDNIGHTMOON on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessmidnightmoon

This podcast episode on @nutsboltswriting.podcast, me and @endlessmidnightmoon (from Instagram) are going to be talking about her @tapas_app novel, “Beyond the Grey Skies,” which is an #alternativehistory novel that takes place primarily in an alternate Southern Europe.

We explore the following questions:

Why did @endlessmidnightmoon choose to write this story?
What was the most difficult part of the story?
What do you seek to explore through alternative history?
How do you research for alternate history?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Artwork here is by Fortunus Games and the audio was edited with Anchor.fm, where we also got the music transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and Katya Luneva! This is an alternative universe (AU) role play where Katya and Andrei are in 1930s Russia.

Katya is a character from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York." Her canonical setting is 1920s Lower East Side, New York City.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novel "Sam in New York": Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Katya here: Katya Luneva - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

WATCH THIS ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/rgIH5JyRLK4

Thank you, THE HOLY ART, for this amazing opportunity! From April 4 to 12, you guys can see the exhibit in which I was featured here: https://www.theholyart.com/nostalgia-room-3

I was very pleasantly shocked I had a corner to myself :) Thanks so much for supporting me all these years, Tete and Helevorn! Tete's Instagram: @tete.depunk Helevorn's Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Malka is on the left and Andrei is on the right! Artwork is by Fortunus Games and this episode was edited on Anchor.fm, where we also got our transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and Malka Spitzer!

Malka is a main character of the upcoming graphic novel by Fortunus Games, "The Book of Joel," and is also a side character in the graphic novel, "Sam in New York."

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novels (preview, in the case of Malka's story) are here: Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Malka here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/malka-spitzer

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Artwork here is by Fortunus Games and the audio was edited with Anchor.fm, where we also got the music transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and Katya Luneva! This is an alternative universe (AU) role play where Katya and Andrei are in 1930s Russia.

Katya is a character from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York." Her canonical setting is 1920s Lower East Side, New York City.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novel "Sam in New York": Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Katya here: Katya Luneva - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Today, Fortunus and Helevorn talk about Fortunus' character from "Sam in New York," Benjamin Cox, the moralistic and arrogant Dean of the Faculty of Law of Ambrose College, Sam's university. He has come a long way since the last we talked about him back in 2020 - particularly since that Fortunus is now writing a novelette (around 7000-10,000 words) about the Dean, focusing on his abusive childhood, religious beliefs and incongruencies, and his sexuality.

Artwork of the Dean is done by Fortunus. Read more about him on Fortunus' website: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/benjamin-cox

Read "Sam in New York" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Read all of Fortunus Games' projects: https://www.fortunusgames.com/current-projects

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Artwork here is by Fortunus Games and the audio was edited with Anchor.fm, where we also got the music transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and Katya Luneva! This is an alternative universe (AU) role play where Katya and Andrei are in 1930s Russia.

Katya is a character from my graphic novel, "Sam in New York." Her canonical setting is 1920s Lower East Side, New York City.

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novel "Sam in New York": Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Katya here: Katya Luneva - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Helevorn's "Tales From the North" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Tales-from-the-North1/info

Follow Helevorn on Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Follow me on Instagram: @fortunusgames

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fortunusgames

Artwork in the thumbnail is from the Cradle of Filth.

We cover the following and more:

1 .When did you discover Cradle of Filth, and extreme metal in general, and how did it fit into your musical and literary preferences at the time?

(After hearing the song fragment) What did you think about it?
How did it change your perspective on music and literature, and your worldview in general?
Transgression and “shock value” play a great part in extreme metal. How does CoF fit into that?
Enumerate some prevalent themes and subjects in Cradle of Filth.
What are the themes of CoF that influenced you the most?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

READ THE PROLOGUE/TEASER OF "THE BOOK OF JOEL" HERE: https://tapas.io/series/The-Book-of-Joel/info

For more information on the series, check out my site: https://www.fortunusgames.com and check out Joel's character profile: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/joel-farber

Follow Tete on Instagram: @tete.depunk

Follow her on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Joel is on the left and Andrei is on the right! Artwork is by Fortunus Games and this episode was edited on Anchor.fm, where we also got our transitions and sound effects from.

This episode features Tete and Fortunus' live role play featuring Tete's character, Andrei Novokshonov, and Joel Farber!

Joel is the main character of the upcoming graphic novel by Fortunus Games, "The Book of Joel," and is also a side character in the graphic novel, "Sam in New York."

Follow Tete on deviantArt and Instagram for more stuff about her characters!

Links to read the graphic novels (preview, in the case of Joel's story) are here: Read Our Works | Fortunus Games

Read more about Joel here: Joel Farber - Character Profile (fortunusgames.com)

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Endlessmidnightmoon's "Beyond the Grey Skies" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/beyond-the-grey-skies/info

Her website: https://www.endlessperiodicals.com/beyond-the-grey-skies/dramatis-personae

Read Helevorn's "Tales From the North" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Tales-from-the-North1/info

Follow Helevorn on Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Follow me on Instagram: @fortunusgames

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fortunusgames

Artwork in the thumbnail is by Helevorn.

We cover the following and more:

ASVALD

Asvald is also a character in Sons of Disobedience. How does he appear there?
How does he interact with other characters (Rannveig, Aidan, Yngvar, Hakon, Helgi and Lars)?
Would you call Asvald psychopathic?
Your said you have a quite a few characters who would be seen as having personality disorders in our time. Why is that? And how are you representing this issue?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Helevorn's "Tales From the North" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Tales-from-the-North1/info

Follow Helevorn on Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Follow me on Instagram: @fortunusgames

Artwork in the thumbnail was done by Helevorn.

We cover the following and more:

THE SLAVE AND THE TROLLS

What can you tell us about the style of this story?
What are the trolls in medieval Scandinavia?
So, by comparison, how are they represented in your story?
Apart from medieval literature, what inspired you in the way you created the trolls?
Asvald is also a character in your novel Sons of Disobedience. Is this incident with the slave and the trolls referred to there?
What was the most difficult thing to write in this story?
How did you solve this problem?

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Follow Helevorn on Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Follow me on Instagram: @fortunusgames

My Redbubble shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/FortunusGames/shop?asc=u

In the upcoming Valentines' comic, Helevorn and I will be releasing a crossover collaboration comic taking place in Ardalion’s seedy bookstore!

Get ready to meet Ardalion, the Mephistophelian, lascivious, trouble-making owner of "Ardalion Books and Gifts," a seedy anarchist bookstore that Sam, Frankie, and Joel frequent as teens and young adults.

There, they will meet Eyolf from Helevorn's Tapas novel, "Lucky Wolf," who will be there to introduce his newest book - about love, of course.

Frankie will also meet a charming girl, Rannveig, who seems to be interested in him...

This will be released on Feb 14, 2021!

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Follow Helevorn on Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Follow me on Instagram: @fortunusgames

My Redbubble shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/FortunusGames/shop?asc=u

In this podcast episode, we will talk about my short story, “Farewell, My Father’s Son,” which will be part of the "Sam in New York" anthology which will be released on March 6, 2021. Subscribe to it here: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York-The-Anthology/info

This short story covers an alternative timeline in Sam’s life where Sam’s life takes a turn for the worse. He becomes an actor but is not successful, and starts developing a complex about being a bad son to his parents.

This is a very #psychological story, and at turns, will be quite dark.

This short story was written for Owl Canyon Press' Hackathon contest in 2020, so the first and 20th paragraphs were not written by me, but were provided by Owl Canyon Press. Check out their website here: https://www.owlcanyonpress.com/

We cover the following questions and more:

What is the "Sam in New York" anthology? How did it come to be?
What is the premise of "Farewell, My Father's Son"? What is the AU it takes place in? It seems similar to Finding Sam (my short story Webtoon from summer 2020) in some ways (in terms of setting and what kind of situation Sam finds himself in).
How will the art be like for this illustrated short story? Will there be a difference from the art in your graphic novels, like "Sam in New York"?
What does this story explore about Sam? Is Sam less confident than he normally is due to the "bad" things he encounters in this timeline? Is he someone whose confidence level changes depending on what he experiences?
What new characters (if any) will we be introduced to in this short story?

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Follow Helevorn on Instagram: @helevorn_bor

Helevorn on deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/helevornart

My Redbubble shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/FortunusGames/shop?asc=u

In this episode, me and Helevorn talk about her character, Elisar, who is a priest from 18th century Romania. He is one of the main characters in her upcoming Tapas novel, "Outlaws."

The art of Elisar in the thumbnail is done by Helevorn!

We cover the following and more:

Can you summarize for us who Elisar is, and what role he will play in Outlaws?
Can you share with us some of the influences on Elisar's story (music, art, myths, etc.)?
What has inspired you to enter him into OC-training on deviantArt? What is OC-training?
Will you be exploring Elisar's relationships with others? For example, Amza and Murgu, amongst others.
Elisar is the character in “Outlaws” with the most pronounced character arc. How would you describe the way his character changes throughout the story?
What brings about these changes?
What role does religion play in Elisar's personality and beliefs?
Can you tell us more about how Elisar sees love and romance in his life?
How is the OC-training going so far? What other aspects of his life and personality are you planning to refer to in the training?
How do you think OC-training will help you to flesh out Elisar more?

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Follow Tete on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk/

DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk

Art in the thumbnail is by Tete.Depunk and can be seen in full here on deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk/art/Guess-Who-OC-Training-Round-13-Gerda-of-Liekki-867139940

In this podcast episode, we talk about Gerda of Liekki, who is from Tete.Depunk's series in development, "Gerda and the Frost Lord'!

We cover the following and more:

It's been a while since we last talked about Gerda. What has made you want to re-enroll her in OC-training again? How much has she changed since we last saw her in 2018?
Can you share with us some of the influences on Gerda's story (music, art, myths, etc.)? What has inspired you to make the changes we've seen since 2018?
Will you be exploring more of Gerda and Kai's relationship this time around? Last time, you focused more on her origin story and the time she spent in the human village as a midwife.
Can you tell us more about how Gerda ended up in Kai's world? Will this be covered in more detail in OC-training?
How do you think OC-training will help you to flesh out Gerda even more?
Which OC-training task do you think will be the easiest? The hardest?

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

The characters we mention here are from the following works:

-Ardalion, Sam, and Frankie are from "Sam in New York" by Fortunus Games

-Yngvar, Aidan, and Eyolf are from "Lucky Wolf" by Helevorn

Read Fortunus Games' "Sam in New York" graphic novel here:

https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Also on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

READ Helevorn's Lucky Wolf here on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

What can you tell us about the plot of this book?
How does it differ in style from The Picture of Dorian Gray that we discussed last time?
The characters.
Important moments. Quotes.
Themes: love, social norms and morality, Hellenism and homosexuality, social class
How has the book influenced your characters, style and plots?
Maurice was written in 1913 was only published in 1971, right after Forster’s death. How does he explain his decision to not publish it during his life?
It is quite an underappreciated book, not the one that Forster is most acclaimed for, even now when the subject matter isn’t as controversial. How has the book been received by critics?
This is a book that feels very contemporary in the straightforward and honest narrative style and in the happy ending for Maurice’s love life. In what aspects do you think the book differs from popular representations of homosexuality in fiction nowadays?

9.5. How did the author's personal life influence this book?

How much is Forster’s sexuality (held a secret from the public) embedded in his writings?
From his biographies, what do you think is Forster’s personal attitude towards romantic relationships and sexuality and how does it compare to that of the 3 main characters of Maurice?

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Fortunus Games' "Sam in New York" graphic novel here:

https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Also on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

Questions for PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT: Intro: Today, we're talking about Portnoy's Complaint, which was first published in 1969 and is written by the award-winning American author, Philip Roth. It was very controversial in its time and got banned from a number of countries for its candid and vulgar treatment of sexuality.

Let's start with the plot - is there a plot? Or is it just a collection of thoughts?
Why was the book so controversial? What did Roth seek to accomplish when writing this book? What was he trying to address in society about sexuality? This was written in the 60s, during the Sexual Revolution in the US.
What is the role of vulgarity in this work? What does it say about Portnoy as a character? Roth as an author? Attitudes towards women and vulgarity - what is the relationship here? Why was this book accused of being misogynistic?
What are the similarities between Portnoy's Complaint and the Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray? Both works feature sexual libertines as protagonists and also attack traditional sexual morality. What are the differences? (talk about tone, perspective, etc.) Talk about Dorian Grey vs. Portnoy - both are libertines, but are so different in some ways.
Other themes in Portnoy's - Jewish-American identity (esp in light of Israel, assimilation, esp Portnoy's obsession with "conquering America through fucking"), parent-child relationship (Portnoy seeks to liberate himself from his strict parents' expectations through his libertine lifestyle and vulgarity, since he was always pressured to be a model citizen and perfect son)
Influence on Fortunus' Works - Ardalion and Portnoy's similarities, esp their attitudes towards sex and traditional morality, cynicism, and flow of consciousness technique, brutally honest tone - also, Sam's relationship with his parents has some degree of similarity, although they are nowhere as controlling as Portnoy's, and Sam's reaction towards his parents' strictness is different.

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

The characters we mention here are from the following works:

Ardalion is from "Sam in New York" by Fortunus Games

Yngvar, Aidan, and Eyolf are from "Lucky Wolf" by Helevorn

Read Fortunus Games' "Sam in New York" graphic novel here:

https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Also on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

READ Helevorn's Lucky Wolf here on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

Questions for THE UNCENSORED PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY:

Intro: Today we’re talking about The Picture of Dorian Gray, the uncensored version published in 2012 for the first time, more than 120 years after Oscar Wilde submitted his controversial novel for publication. The book was considered so outrageous that it was used as evidence in the trial against Oscar Wilde, for which he was sentenced to prison for homosexuality, which was a crime at the time.
Let’s start with a short summary of the plot.
In order to understand why the book was so controversial, we need first to talk about the context in which it was written back, about the Victorian society of 1890, its morality and laws, which are notoriously strict in certain respects. What can you tell us about Victorian morality?
What about laws? How was homosexuality viewed at the time?
Let’s talk now about the life of Oscar Wilde (emphasis on his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, which was disastrous for him.)
What was the public’s reaction towards the book? Why was it so controversial?
What is the difference between the censored and the uncensored versions of The Picture of Dorian Gray?

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Fortunus Games' "Sam in New York" graphic novel here:

https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Also on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

Art in thumbnail featuring Sam blushing is by Fortunus Games.

We cover the following and more:

What are Sam's views on sex? How do they compare with Frankie's views? Joel's? Ardalion's? His parents'?
Sam likes to sound "bigger" than he really is, no pun intended. Does this obsession with projecting a confident attitude apply to his sexual life as well?
Sam and Eyolf have a lot of similarities - both are "showmen" who can sell anything and are very flashy and confident (at least on the surface). How do their views on sex differ?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Fortunus Games' "Sam in New York" graphic novel here:

https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Also on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

Buy Tete's "70 Fierce Years" here on Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GZWJR89/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=70+fierce+years&qid=1605999879&sr=8-1

1) Our achievements this year -

Tete: Andrei's story for the Amazon contest ("70 Fierce Years", which is on Amazon Kindle, and you can get it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GZWJR89/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=70+fierce+years&qid=1605999879&sr=8-1) and Senka's story

Fortunus: as mentioned in the wrapup episode (EP 48) with Helevorn, "Finding Sam" and "Sam in New York"

2) Crossovers! Sam in NYC/Gerda and Kai crossover, in particular, the new pairing of Senka and Joel

3) Podcast goals - more literary discussions, including Claudia discussing Latino literature, and we can talk more about the books that have inspired us - for example, the Cossack books Tete's read for Andrei's story, and the inspirations for Kai and Gerda

4) Other projects, such as Tete's cards, paper crafting, and Medieval Calligraphy, and also Gleb and how he was reinvented this year

5) What we plan for next year - "Book of Joel" and "Sam's Guide to Cold-Calling" for Fortunus, and for Tete, OC-training and more stuff about Gerda and Kai, and all of the others

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70 Fierce Years

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Fortunus Games' "Sam in New York" graphic novel here:

https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Also on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

Read Helevorn's "Lucky Wolf" here: https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

Read Helevorn's "Tales of the North" here: https://tapas.io/series/Tales-from-the-North1/info

In this episode, Helevorn and Fortunus talk about the goals they've achieved this year on Tapas with their novels and comics and as well as on this podcast. The following will be discussed:

1) Talk about what we've achieved this year - Helevorn (Lucky Wolf, started Tales of the North, which revisited old stories)

Me (Finding Sam in the summer and Sam in NYC starting in late August - which was a huge step forward since I'd never made a series for real before and I had thought making comics was too time consuming)

2) Talk about how Tapas has really helped us to expand our audience - and for me, help create a schedule which has really helped me to get the motivation I need to work on Sam in NYC. Before, I just uploaded whenever I liked, so I had no schedule, hence, I had no motivation to really work on my series.

3) Talk about what we've achieved this year with the podcast - started in August, and the themes we've covered - writing/brainstorming about our main series, various characters, themes (sexuality, romance, introvertedness, etc.) and writing short stories - what themes will we cover next year? Will potentially make short courses - will they be on Patreon? Skillshare? Some free ones on YouTube/Anchor?

4) Talk about what we want to achieve next year with our work - Helevorn - Outlaws, "Trolls" story that is starting next week for Tales of the North, and Valdis' story as well as any others you may want to revisit (Merwyn's story/novella).

For my work - continue with Sam in NYC, and the Ink goals I've just uncovered - Book of Joel and Sam's Guide to Cold-Calling as well as the artbook featuring essays about the themes and setting of Sam in NYC

5) Talk about what we want to achieve with our podcast next year - more interviews with creators, more themes (talking about books we've read and their influence on us, character comparisons, etc.) and maybe more audiobook previews?

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

in this episode, to close off the year of 2020, me and Tete have decided to talk about anime and manga - we talk about our childhood favorites from the 2000s and 2010s, including but not limited to:

-InuYasha

-Naruto

-Bleach

-DragonBall Z

-Digimon

-Revolutionary Girl Utena

-Sailor Moon

and many more...

Thanks for your support this year! We could've never come this far without you guys supporting our podcast :D

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Fortunus Games reads out "What Hangs in Between," a short story Tete wrote about the first time Senka met Kai. The artwork of Senka in the thumbnail is done by Fortunus Games.

Set to free music from Anchor.fm.

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

READ Helevorn's Lucky Wolf here on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

Read Fortunus Games' "Sam in New York" graphic novel here:

https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Also on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

Thumbnail features the Sims 4 versions of (left to right) Sam, medieval AU Ardalion, and Helevorn's Yngvar.

In this second holiday special, get ready to learn about:

Midwinter celebrations in medieval Scandinavia (Jol)

Parties, alcohol, oaths, horses&boars

and the alternative universe (AU) versions of the "Sam in NYC" characters in Helevorn's medieval Scandinavian setting:

ARDALION - merchant from Kievan Rus’. Yngvar met him when he was 20 and they had an affair. He comes to trade in Nordland.

SAM - a lawyer; he is always at the marketplace telling people his stories.

JOEL - a monk from Aidan’s monastery, also a slave; he ran away from abusive parents and decided to enter the monastery since no other place took him in. the Dean like him a lot because Joel sucks up to him and takes a special interest in apologetics

FRANKIE - Sicilian merchant, trading wine

THE DEAN - is an Anglo-Saxon priest. Aedgar’s and Aidan’s former teacher. Eyolf would try to help him to make him feel less frustrated and try to heal his impotence

TOM - Tom and his family would be part Greenlandic Inuit instead of Aleut, whale hunters, a Russian trader in his genealogy

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Read Fortunus Games' "Sam in New York" graphic novel here:

https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Also on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

In this holiday special, get ready to learn about:

1) @tete.depunk’s Kai and Gerda celebrating #Yuletide in their universe, with magic! Small cameo of the fantasy AU version of Sam and his friends and family.

2) How my “Sam in New York” characters will celebrate the holiday season, Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Years. Cameos of @tete.depunk’s Andrei, Dasha, and other characters from Andrei’s story as well as the AU versions of Kai and Gerda and the others.

3) Finally, a short section about how @tete.depunk’s Andrei will celebrate Christmas and New Years in the USSR.

The thumbnail features the Sims 4 version of Sam (left) dressed in a virgin killer sweater with Tete's Gerda next to him.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

READ Helevorn's Lucky Wolf here on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

In this episode, Helevorn and I talk about our approaches to writing about sexuality in our works.

In General:

What are some main points that a writer should keep in mind when creating a sex scene?
How can erotic scenes be used as a part of establishing a character?
How do you decide how explicit a scene is going to be?
How can you depict an unhealthy sexual relationship?
Erotic fiction

About Helevorn's characters specifically:

How are Eyolf's attitudes towards sex like? Do his attitudes change depend on who he's attracted to at a particular moment?
What does the scene between Eyolf and Geirr tell us about Eyolf's views on sex?
How does the Midsummer scene between Eyolf and Yngvar contrast and compare with that of Eyolf and Geirr? How does Eyolf's attraction towards these two men differ?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

In this episode, me and Tete talk about my character, Joel, from "Sam in New York." We talk about his desire for self-improvement, his various complexes, and what I want to explore in the future with him. We also go off topic (as usual) and talk about our favorite childhood shounen manga and anime, such as Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, InuYasha, and others (and compare some of these characters to Joel and Sam).

Thumbnail art of Joel is by me, Fortunus Games.

You can read more about him here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/joel-farber

We also discuss the following:

What prompted you to revisit Joel and delve deep into his character and background?
How do his parents and family life influence Joel's personality, views and social life? Are these influences long-lasting?
How does Joel recognize his need for improvement? How does he go about achieving this goal? Does he attain this goal eventually after much trial and error?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

In this episode, me and Helevorn talk about my short story, "Family Records," which will appear in the "Sam in New York" anthology you guys helped to unlock during Inksgiving! The anthology is slated to be released some time in 2021.

This story is a flashforward to 1985 from the point of view of Sam’s daughter Hannah looking back at her father’s last few years.

The thumbnail here was drawn by the awesome Akitku and features an older Sam looking back at an old photo of his favorite Yiddish actor, Boris Thomashefksy. Check out Akitku's Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/akitku/

Akitku is a friend of ours and she also has an amazing Tapas comic, "Brothers' Keepers," which is a medieval fantasy. Check it out here:

https://tapas.io/series/Brothers-Keepers/info

We cover the following themes in this episode:

Plot, style & themes. Which of the paths in the visual novel does this follow?
Hannah. Personality, interests, relationship with Sam.
Old Sam. How have his youth struggles resolved? What does he miss most from his past? What does he regret/ is most proud of?
The Lower East side over time. How are his children and grandchildren adapted to like in America vs. how Sam was?
Will you explore other outcomes from the visual novel?

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

In this episode, me and Helevorn talk about Helevorn's short story, "The Călușari," which is a historical fantasy short story set in medieval Romania.

You can read it on her deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/helevornart/gallery/59192571/the-calusari-illustrated-story

We cover the following topics:

A. What are the Călușari ?

B. Origins & Symbolism.

C. Costume & Roles

Plot, style & themes.
Characters: Codrin and Savina
Fantasy elements.
Historical fantasy. Fantasy inspired from folklore, magical realism

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

in this episode, Helevorn and Fortunus Games talk about Fortunus' as-of-yet unpublished short story, "Stillness," about the character of Tom and the difficulties he encounters when he moves to New York City from rural Alaska to go to law school.

This story will be part of the "Sam in New York" anthology that will be released next year on Tapas! Thank you for all of your support this Inksgiving on Tapas - without your donations, the anthology would not have been unlocked (it was one of the ink goals - and we surpassed the goal of 10,000 by spades!).

We cover the following:

Plot, style & themes
Tom’s family - Elements of Aleutian culture
Tom and New York. How does Tom accommodate in the big city and at a prestigious university? Is he what he has prepared for?
Tom and Sam - what kind of relationship do they have?

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

READ "Midsummer" by Helevorn here on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Midsummer2/info

In this episode, Fortunus and Helevorn discuss Helevorn's short story, "Midsummer," which is about her characters Lars and Helgi, two teenaged boys from rural 10th century Norway. It is a slice of life story set in medieval Scandinavia.

We discuss the following:

Plot, style & themes
Homosexuality in Norse times
Characters - How do Helgi and Lars fit with this Norse mentality regarding “manliness”?
How would their attitude and relationship differ from that of another homosexual couple, Yngvar and Eyolf?
In Sons of Disobedience we get to see a different side of Helgi and Lars, where they also appear as raiders. What does this side of them look like? What does it say about their mentalities and personalities?

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Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

In this episode, Helevorn and Fortunus talk about Fortunus' unpublished short story, "The Shave," which is a short story told from the point of view of Raisa Abramov, Sam’s mother.

The plot trigger, so to speak, is the fact that: “Levka (her husband Lev, a term of endearment) had decided to obscure his face with a beard of Biblical proportions”. The beard is the symbol that the story revolves around.

We get to hear Raisa’s voice, her views on America and their immigration and her perspective on the conflict/ divergence of opinion between Sam and Lev.

We cover the following topics/questions (and more):

How do you recent writings different from your old ones (Basmachi and Blue Star)?
How did this story came to be?
What can you tell us about the structure? How does it differ from other recent short-stories of yours?
What are Raisa’s views on immigration?
The story talks about the beginnings of her relationship with Lev. What did she like about Lev and what does she still like?
How do young Lev and Sam compare? How has Lev changed, how did he get from being revolutionary to being someone who pushes on his son a generic middle-class life?
What’s Raisa’s position in Lev and Sam divergence of opinions?
Ardalion makes an appearance. Can you tell us more about Ardalion and how he interacts with Raisa?
How does Raisa’s voice compare to Sam’s?

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Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Today, Helevorn talks to Fortunus Games about her short story, "Holmgang," which is the first in her anthology of short stories set in medieval Norway, "Tales of the North."

"Tales of the North" can be read on Tapas: Tales from the North | Tapas

Topics we cover include:

How does the writing process differ when creating a short story vs. a longer piece?
Plot and style - Inspiration from saga literature
Characters: In what way is Hakon the typical Viking/ Norse hero? How does Sif differ from my other female characters?
Editing done between 2016 and today: How did the characters evolve? How did the writing evolved?
What is the format? Why did you choose to turn this into an illustrated story?

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PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Today, Tete and Fortunus talk about Fortunus' unpublished short story, "Ode to Odessa," where Sam explores what his parents' lives may have been like back in Odessa, before they immigrated to the US.

Tete and Fortunus talk about the following themes:

How Tete and Fortunus have chosen to write their short stories;
What approaches differ between writing a longer work versus a short story (around 2000 words or so);
How "Ode to Odessa" challenges certain tropes present in immigrant fiction and seeks to problematize the often xenophobic/Orientalist assumptions present in such narratives;
How "Ode to Odessa" shows Sam's voice as an emerging writer;
How "Ode to Odessa" explores Sam's complex feelings about his parents. On one hand, as we know, they have some conflicts due to Sam wanting to be an actor, while they want him to be a lawyer. Nevertheless, despite arguments arising from this, they are very close and love one another.

Artwork in thumbnail is by Fortunus Games and features young Lev and Raisa (Sam's parents) in the Odessa Opera Theatre.

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Today, Wanda walker, Helevorn, and Fortunus talk about writing contemporary fiction while exploring Wanda's approach to writing her novel, "Reflections of the Desperate and Dumb"!

You can read Wanda's book here on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Reflections-of-the-Desperate-and-Dumb/info

Artwork in the thumbnail is by Wanda Walker.

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Fortunus and Tete talk about Tete returning to her old fantasy story, "Gerda and the Frost Lord." We explore why she has chosen to return to her story and how one of her characters, Senka, prompted her to return to writing this story. She is currently writing a short story about the first time Senka met Kai, which we will discuss more about in future sessions.

Apologies for the lags this episode. Zoom was not behaving well.

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Today, Fortunus and Tete talk about Fortunus' character from "Sam in New York," Joel Farber, Sam's friend from high school who is not, to put it mildly, the best kind of friend you'd hope for. We also segue into how Joel would interact with Tete's character, Sasha, and what his (largely unsuccessful) love life would be like.

Artwork of Joel is done by Fortunus. Read more about him on Fortunus' website: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/joel-farber

Read "Sam in New York" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

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Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

Today, Fortunus and Helevorn talk about Fortunus' character from "Sam in New York," Benjamin Cox, the moralistic and arrogant Dean of the Faculty of Law of Ambrose College, Sam's university.

Artwork of the Dean is done by Fortunus. Read more about him on Fortunus' website: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/benjamin-cox

Read "Sam in New York" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

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Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! I, Fortunus, am dressed as a random steampunk character that I just created on the spot (out of items found in my closet) and Helevorn is dressed as a character from "Outlaws," Narcisa. The filter on my face is from Snap Camera, which can be connected to Zoom.

Today, Helevorn and Fortunus talk about Helevorn's upcoming short story, "Outlaws," which focuses on a particularly turbulent period in Romanian history. Narrated by four different characters (who hail from very different segments of society - a priest, two Roma siblings, and a boyar who becomes an outlaw), "Outlaws" deconstructs and challenges many tropes found in Romanian literature about these "outlaws" (who are often portrayed as Robin Hood types).

The drawing in the thumbnail was done by Helevorn and shows Amza, who is the boyar outlaw in Helevorn's story. Find out more about him once the series is released in 2021!

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Today, Fortunus and Tete talk about Fortunus' character, Ardalion Mayakov, an arrogant provocateur of a military officer who describes himself as "belligerently antagonistic, too nihilistic, too exceedingly libidinous and vulgar."

The Sims picture of Ardalion is created by Fortunus and you can see more of Fortunus' Sims on her Sims account: https://www.instagram.com/saminsims4/

Ardalion is from "What Comes First Will Follow," an upcoming crossover between Tete and Fortunus play/dialogue that will be released on Tapas and Webtoon.

We compare Ardalion to Tete's characters from her novel, "70 Fierce Years", Evseii and Lukyan, who are arguably even more flawed (in different ways) than Ardalion is.

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Today, Fortunus and Helevorn discuss their extroverted characters from Helevorn's "Lucky Wolf" and Fortunus' "Sam in New York." Helevorn discusses Rannveig, Hakon, Halvard, and Eyolf, while Fortunus discusses Sam, Lina, Ardalion, Tom, the Dean and Harvey.

Helevorn's characters are from "Lucky Wolf," which you can read on Tapas - https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

Aidan and Merwyn don't appear in "Lucky Wolf," but will appear in its sequel, "Sons of Disobedience."

Fortunus' characters are from her project, "Sam in New York," which is a graphic novel on Tapas and Webtoon.

Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

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PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Today, Fortunus and Tete talk about Fortunus' character, Ardalion Mayakov, an arrogant provocateur of a military officer who describes himself as "belligerently antagonistic, too nihilistic, too exceedingly libidinous and vulgar."

The Sims picture of Ardalion is created by Fortunus and you can see more of Fortunus' Sims on her Sims account: https://www.instagram.com/saminsims4/

Ardalion is from "What Comes First Will Follow," an upcoming crossover between Tete and Fortunus play/dialogue that will be released on Tapas and Webtoon. We compare Ardalion to Tete's character, Andrei, who is also flawed, but in a different way.

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Today, we talk to Coffee and Comics about the importance of disability representation in their Webtoon, "Chaotic Idiots," which you can read here:

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/chaotic-idiots-the-series/list?title_no=448795

Artwork on the thumbnail is by CoffeeandComics! Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaoticidiotsoffical/

Here are some of the topics we covered (though we branch out to others as well):

Can you tell us about the role disability plays in “Chaotic Idiots”?
What kind of disabilities do you cover in your work?
How do you feel your webtoon adds to how disabilities are usually portrayed in the media? What types of ableist tropes are you challenging in your work?
What were some of the challenges you faced in creating your series?
What was the easiest about creating your series?
What role do different species like Fae, Vampires, humans, etc. play in your world?
Your work arguably counts as low fantasy - meaning it takes place in a world very similar to our own but with some differences such as Dragons, Vampires, etc. What is the hardest part about writing low fantasy? The easiest? What type of advice would you have for people who want to write their own fantasy series - some of my friends, for example, have had difficulties with world building?
Can you tell us more about the relationship between the Fae and humans in your work?
I love the dynamic between Jacob and Leroy, especially how Jacob is so attuned to Leroy’s moods and always wants to make him happy. Can you tell us more about their friendship?
What advice do you have for people who want to create their own Webtoon?

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Today, Helevorn interviews Wanda Walker!

Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rainbw_mansion

Her Tapas: https://tapas.io/pseudocide335

Wanda Walker is the author of several novels belonging to genres ranging from contemporary fiction to low fantasy, focused on realistic portrayals of characters and social attitudes. She is also an illustrator, currently publishing a webcomic on Tapas called “Rainbow Mansion”, which you can read here: https://tapas.io/series/Rainbow-Mansion/info

Today, we’re discussing her approach to fantasy applied to her 3-volume novel “The Duke’s Prisoner”, written in 2012, which you can read here: https://www.fictionpress.com/s/2995032/1/The-Duke-s-Prisoner

Artwork of Duke Kasha (in thumbnail) is by Wanda Walker herself!

Questions:

What is your approach to fantasy? Does it have any supernatural elements involved?
Why have you chosen this approach? What are the advantages? What about disadvantages?
Could you tell us more about “The Duke’s Prisoner”, in terms of premise and plot?
What are the main themes?
Duke Kasha of Jentirrya makes for a protagonist that is full of surprises and with an interesting character arc. Can you tell us more about him? What’s his backstory? What drives him?
I found Kasha’s relationship with his wife Opheali very interesting - can you tell us more about it?
How about the antagonist, Colonel Rodan, the prisoner that Kasha acquires in the beginning of the story?
What can you tell us about worldbuilding in your story? How did you elaborate it?
What elements of our real world did you want it to have and is anything fundamentally different from our world?
The book was finished in 2012. Would you change anything about it now?

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Today, Helevorn, Tete and Fortunus build upon what was covered last week in EP 24 (watch here: https://youtu.be/M6GrLgO5-QI), where Helevorn and Fortunus discussed their introverted characters. Now, Tete joins us for an in-depth discussion about her introverted character, Gleb (from "The White Horse Rides a Black Horse") and how he compares to the other kinds of introverted characters we've talked about before. In particular, he is the most like Helevorn's Yngvar . He has less anxiety about romantic interactions, although he is just as cynical and misanthropic as Yngvar...listen to learn more!

The image of Gleb in the thumbnail is Fortunus Games' interpretation of him (Tete approved!) in the Sims 4. See more of Fortunus Games' Sims portraits and videos on https://www.instagram.com/saminsims4!

Helevorn's characters are from "Lucky Wolf," which you can read on Tapas - https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

Aidan and Merwyn don't appear in "Lucky Wolf," but will appear in its sequel, "Sons of Disobedience."

Tete's character is from her as of yet unreleased novel, "The White Crow Rides a Black Horse." You can buy her book about Gleb's descendent, Andrei, "70 Fierce Years," here on Kindle: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08GZWJR89/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=70+fierce+years&qid=1598831307&sr=8-1

Fortunus' characters are from her project, "Sam in New York," which is a graphic novel on Tapas and Webtoon.

Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

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70 Fierce Years

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

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Today, Helevorn and Fortunus talk about how they've written their introverted characters. Helevorn talks about Yngvar, Aidan, Merwyn, and Lars, and Fortunus talks about Joel, Katya, and Frankie.

Helevorn's characters are from "Lucky Wolf," which you can read on Tapas - https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

Aidan and Merwyn don't appear in "Lucky Wolf," but will appear in its sequel, "Sons of Disobedience."

Fortunus' characters are from her project, "Sam in New York," which is a graphic novel on Tapas and Webtoon.

Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Today, Helevorn and Fortunus talk about two of their couples and how they've portrayed their romantic relationship - Helevorn's Vili and Valdis (Yngvar's parents) and Fortunus' Lev and Raisa (Sam's parents).

The work that Helevorn is referring to here is "Lucky Wolf," which you can read on Tapas - https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

Fortunus, as usual, is talking about Sam in New York, which is a graphic novel on Tapas and Webtoon.

Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Art_of_Yan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_of_yan/

Fortunus Games' Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/fortunusgames

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Today, we talk about the Yiddish Theatre and the role it plays in Fortunus Games' graphic novel (on Webtoon, Tapas and Patreon), "Sam in New York." We go through a brief history of Yiddish Theatre - how it first developed in Europe and how it went to America, and how it influenced Hollywood, Broadway, and much more. Finally, we explore how Sam in "Sam in New York" is affected by the Yiddish Theatre and what draws him specifically to it.

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Today, Tete and I discuss her character Andrei (from her Kindle novel, "70 Fierce Years") and his views on romance, both in canon with his wife Dasha and in the alternative timeline (the crossover series, "What Comes First Will Follow" that's coming soon to Tapas) with my character, Katya.

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SAM IN NEW YORK ON WEBTOON: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

TAPAS: https://tapas.io/episode/1873517

In this episode, we learn more about Raisa Rifkina (later Abramova), Sam's mother. We learn about when and where she was born, the kind of life she led in Odessa, Ukraine, how she met her husband Lev, what kind of mother she is towards Sam, and how immigration changed her personality and her relationship with her husband. We also talk about what kind of role Raisa played in Sam's burgeoning interest in Yiddish theatre.

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In this episode, Tete and Fortunus Games talk about their upcoming project, "What Comes First Will Follow," which is a crossover work in the form of a play/dialogue they will eventually post on Tapas (later this year or early 2021).

"What Comes First Will Follow" takes place in an alternative reality where Andrei from Tete's novel, "70 Fierce Years" (now on Kindle!) lives on after his betrothed, Dasha, dies due to the Russian Civil War. He later meets Katya (from Fortunus' work, "Sam in New York", but a version of her who stayed in Russia and didn't immigrate to the US) and the two find themselves falling for each other as they struggle to survive in a rapidly changing society. Meanwhile, Evseii, the vengeful brother of a man Andrei thought he had long left behind for good in his past, starts making his presence known to Katya and Andrei...

You can find out more about "70 Fierce Years" and Evseii's brother, Lukyan, in this previous episode: https://youtu.be/Nv4QSKAwyvA

Find out more about Katya (from the "Sam in New York" continuity) here: https://youtu.be/M-B0tFHrx_M

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SAM IN NEW YORK ON WEBTOON: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

TAPAS: https://tapas.io/episode/1873517

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

In this episode, we learn more about Lev Abramov, Sam's strict and demanding "tiger father." We learn about what kind of community he grew up in and how and when he went to Odessa, and what pushed him to go to America. We also talk about the political movements he was involved in while in Odessa, and how they've shaped his strong sense of justice. We also introduce a new project that we're working on, about Andrei and Katya, and discuss the return of older characters (by Fortunus) like Ardalion. Learn more about these characters in future episodes!

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Today, we have a guest speaker on our show - Claudia C, who, like the host is an immigrant, and has faced similar issues as those unpacked and explored in my graphic novel and soon-to-be-visual novel, "Sam in New York."

Claudia immigrated from Honduras to the US in 1991. As a long-time fan of "Sam in New York," she identifies with many of the themes covered in the work. She shares with us many of the struggles she had to face in America - not only language struggles, but also having to get used to a different communication style and dealing with isolation, racism, xenophobia and other issues. She also talks about how she always felt pressured to assimilate in America and how the media is always pushing immigrants and minorities in general to "be white" and be ashamed of themselves.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete.Depunk (https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk on Instagram and https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talks about her experiences writing her novel, "70 Fierce Years," a part of which has just been released as a Kindle E-Book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08GZWJR89/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=70+fierce+years&qid=1598831307&sr=8-1

Her novel is about Andrei, who hails from the early 20th century. In this episode, we talk about how the Soviet policies of De-Cossackification affected Andrei and his family and how Andrei was forced to hide his own culture from his children to protect them. How would this kind of forced cultural assimilation affect their family in the long run?

SAM IN NEW YORK ON WEBTOON: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

TAPAS: https://tapas.io/episode/1873517

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

We also compare and contrast Sam (from my work, "Sam in New York")'s experiences with assimilation in America with Andrei's experiences with assimilation in Russia.

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70 Fierce Years

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

In this episode, Tete.Depunk (https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk on Instagram and https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talks about her experiences writing her novel, "70 Fierce Years," a part of which has just been released on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08GZWJR89/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=70+fierce+years&qid=1598831307&sr=8-1

Her novel is about Andrei, who hails from the early 20th century.

We talk about Lukyan, Andrei's wife's father, who was abusive to Dasha and her mother. We talk in the later part of the video about how writers can approach controversial topics such as domestic abuse, violence against women, etc., particularly in historical fiction.

Thumbnail features Fortunus Games' quick sketch of Lukyan.

Tete.Depunk's Main Sources Used:

O'Rourke, Shane. The Cossacks. Manchester University Press, 2007.

Sholokhov, Mikhail. And Quiet Flows the Don. Reissue, Vintage, 1989.

Mawdsley, Evan. The Russian Civil War. Pegasus Books, 2009.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

70 Fierce Years

SAM IN NEW YORK ON WEBTOON: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

TAPAS: https://tapas.io/episode/1873517

PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

This episode, we learn about one of Sam's love interests, Tom Melbourne, who is a small town boy from Alaska, captain of the football team at Ambrose Law School, and one of the first people to befriend Sam at law school!

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

SAM IN NEW YORK ON WEBTOON: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

TAPAS: https://tapas.io/episode/1873517

Twitter/Instagram: @fortunusgames

Podcast's Twitter: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

Podcast's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete.Depunk (https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk on Instagram and https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talks about her experiences writing about Andrei, who hails from the early 20th century.

We talk about Dasha, Andrei's wife, and the role that she plays in his life.

Thumbnail features Dasha as Tete and I created her in Sims 4.

Tete.Depunk's Main Sources Used:

O'Rourke, Shane. The Cossacks. Manchester University Press, 2007.

Sholokhov, Mikhail. And Quiet Flows the Don. Reissue, Vintage, 1989.

Mawdsley, Evan. The Russian Civil War. Pegasus Books, 2009.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Today, we discuss Helevorn's experiences in writing her historical novel, "Sons of Disobedience," to which "Lucky Wolf" is a sequel. We talk about her experiences in wanting to rewrite parts of "Sons of Disobedience" and introduce the characters and themes of the novel.

READ "LUCKY WOLF" HERE: https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf

Artwork in Thumbnail is by @helevorn_bor - her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helevorn_bor

Her deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/helevornart

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete.Depunk (https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk on Instagram and https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talks about her experiences writing about Andrei, who hails from the early 20th century. We talk about the impact of De-Cossackification on Andrei and his Cossack culture and how he has to learn to deal with modernity as he lives through the 20th century and all its turbulent changes.

Artwork of Andrei on the thumbnail is done by Tete.Depunk!

Tete.Depunk's Main Sources Used:

O'Rourke, Shane. The Cossacks. Manchester University Press, 2007.

Sholokhov, Mikhail. And Quiet Flows the Don. Reissue, Vintage, 1989.

Mawdsley, Evan. The Russian Civil War. Pegasus Books, 2009.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Featuring me and @tete.depunk (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk and DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talking about my current multimedia (Webtoon and Visual Novel) project, "Sam in New York"!

We talk about the character Frankie Amato, who is one of the pursuable love interests in "Sam in New York."

Artwork in thumbnail of Frankie from "Sam in New York" is by me!

Find out more about "Sam in New York" on my Instagram @fortunusgames and on my website: https://www.fortunusgames.com

Read "Finding Sam" in its entirety on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Finding-Sam

Read "Finding Sam" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-h/list?title_no=435678

Read "Finding Sam: Epilogue" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-epilogue/list?title_no=491760

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this video, I create Tom Melbourne and his family from my Webtoon and Visual Novel project, "Sam in New York" in Sims 4.

Learn more about Sam in New York by subscribing to my YouTube channel, checking out my Instagram and Twitter @fortunusgames, and checking out my website: https://www.fortunusgames.com !

I stream my art and Sims 4 stuff on Twitch too: https://www.twitch.tv/fortunusgames

The protagonist, Sam, meets Tom at Ambrose Law School. Tom is a potential love interest for Sam and acts as his foil in many different ways: while Sam is talkative, over the top, obsessed with the theatre, and isn't sure what he really wants to do with his life despite being in law school, Tom is calm, collected, and focused on academics as well as athletics. Tom and his brother Herman are of mixed Aleut, Russian, and English descent. His father, Fred, is 3/4 Aleut, and 1/4 Russian, while his mother, Charlotte, is of English descent. They are all Americans and hail from a small town in Alaska, Unalaska, the biggest city in the Aleutian Islands.

Hope you enjoy me sharing my ideas about Tom and his family in this video! Stay tuned for more Sims brainstorming sessions related to the "Sam in New York" project.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Today, we’ll be having Tete.Depunk and Helevorn on this show!

They will be having a conversation about worldbuilding, whether that’s in historical fiction or in fantasy works. Tete and Helevorn will also be talking about how to avoid stereotypes in works, for example, how to avoid stereotypical portrayals of Vikings, Cossacks, and other “types,” since it can be easy to fall into literary shorthand when writing about these kinds of characters.

Tete.Depunk is the author of a fantasy work, “Gerda and the Frost Lord” as well as two historical works about Cossacks, “The White Crow Rides a Black Horse” (which is about Gleb, the 17-18th century Cossack) and “70 Fierce Years” (which is about Andrei, Gleb’s descendent from early 20th century Soviet Union).

Tete's Instagram: @tete.depunk

Her deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk

Helevorn is the author of a series of historical works set in the Viking Age, such as the short novel “Lucky Wolf”, her larger project, “Sons of Disobedience”, as well as a series of short stories, all linked together through common themes and characters. In recent times, Vikings have entered the mainstream in films or video games. In building the world of her stories, Helevorn has come across several stereotypes related to this topic, which she will talk about today.

Helevorn's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helevorn_bor

Her deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/helevornart

READ Helevorn's "LUCKY WOLF" novella HERE: https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Featuring me and @tete.depunk (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk and DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talking about my current multimedia (Webtoon and Visual Novel) project, "Sam in New York"!

We talk about the concept of the Melting Pot in American society and the role of the Melting Pot in "Sam in New York." We also discuss the character of Katya Luneva in "Sam in New York." Katya is one of Sam's potential love interests and unlike Sam (who was born in America to immigrant parents), she is an immigrant herself. We learn more about her personality in this episode and about how and why she and Sam become interested in one another.

Artwork in thumbnail of Katya from "Sam in New York" is by me!

Find out more about "Sam in New York" on my Instagram @fortunusgames and on my website: https://www.fortunusgames.com

Read "Finding Sam" in its entirety on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Finding-Sam

Read "Finding Sam" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-h/list?title_no=435678

Read "Finding Sam: Epilogue" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-epilogue/list?title_no=491760

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete.Depunk (https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk on Instagram and https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talks about her experiences re-creating an old character of hers - Gleb (formerly Andrei), who starts out as a serf in 18th century Imperial Russia and eventually finds his calling as a Cossack! She also talks about her experiences going back to Gleb's descendent Andrei's story, and how and why she has begun to move away from fantasy.

Artwork of Andrei on the thumbnail is done by Tete.Depunk!

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Featuring me and @helevorn_bor (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helevorn_bor and DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/helevornart) talking about the role of secondary characters, especially and including Sam's parents, in my current multimedia (Webtoon and Visual Novel) project, "Sam in New York"!

Artwork in thumbnail of Sam's parents, Lev and Raisa, is by me, and will appear in the the "Sam in New York" webtoon coming out in late August and September!

Find out more about "Sam in New York" on my Instagram @fortunusgames and on my website: https://www.fortunusgames.com

Read "Finding Sam" in its entirety on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Finding-Sam

Read "Finding Sam" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-h/list?title_no=435678

Read "Finding Sam: Epilogue" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-epilogue/list?title_no=491760

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Featuring me and @tete.depunk (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk and DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talking about my current multimedia (Webtoon and Visual Novel) project, "Sam in New York"!

Artwork in thumbnail of Sam is by me - this character sprite has appeared in some comics already and will be used in the visual novel.

We segue into how I've balanced historical elements and research with a character-driven narrative and how I did my historical research for my project (academic journals, oral histories found on YouTube and other sites, etc.).

Find out more about "Sam in New York" on my Instagram @fortunusgames and on my website: https://www.fortunusgames.com

Read "Finding Sam" in its entirety on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Finding-Sam

Read "Finding Sam" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-h/list?title_no=435678

Read "Finding Sam: Epilogue" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-epilogue/list?title_no=491760

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete.Depunk (https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk on Instagram and https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talks about her experiences re-creating an old character of hers - Gleb (formerly Andrei), who starts out as a serf in 18th century Imperial Russia and eventually finds his calling as a Cossack!

She talks about how she did the historical research for her story and shares the ideas she's developed for Petya (Gleb's half-brother) and Nikolai (Petya and Gleb's father).

Artwork of Gleb on the thumbnail is done by Tete.Depunk!

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

READ "LUCKY WOLF" HERE: https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf

Artwork in Thumbnail is by @helevorn_bor - her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helevorn_bor

Her deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/helevornart

Today, we discuss Helevorn's experiences in writing her historical novel, "Lucky Wolf." We talk about what first drew her to the historical genre, how to balance characters and setting, how to do research for historical novels, and how "Lucky Wolf" add to the genre of historical fiction.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

Featuring me and @tete.depunk (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk and DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talking about my current project, "Sam in New York"!

Artwork in thumbnail of Sam is by me and is from "Finding Sam: Epilogue", which you can read here: https://tapas.io/series/Finding-Sam

We segue into how "Sam in New York" ties in with Philip Roth, modernism, being a Third Culture kid, and the role of "assimilation" in Anglophone countries like the USA, Australia, Canada, etc.

Find out more about "Sam in New York" on my Instagram @fortunusgames and on my website: https://www.fortunusgames.com

Read "Finding Sam" in its entirety on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Finding-Sam

Read "Finding Sam" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-h/list?title_no=435678

Read "Finding Sam: Epilogue" on Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/finding-sam-epilogue/list?title_no=491760

Punch Deck's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/PunchDeck

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message

In this episode, Tete.Depunk (https://www.instagram.com/tete.depunk on Instagram and https://www.deviantart.com/tete-depunk) talks about her experiences re-creating an old character of hers - Gleb (formerly Andrei), who starts out as a serf in 18th century Imperial Russia and eventually finds his calling as a Cossack! We also talk about diversity, ethnic representation, and character/plot development!

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games/message