The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

Host Imelda Wei Ding Lo reviews the video game, Journey (2012), and uses it to reflect on how her life and mindset has changed since taking a break from this podcast (that's why we were on hiatus since January 2023)!

Co-host Teresa joins the conversation.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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