The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

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.

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!

Watch on YouTube.

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!

Watch on YouTube with visuals!

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!

Watch on YouTube (with visuals)!

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"!

Watch on YouTube.

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!

Watch on YouTube.

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?

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.

Watch on YouTube!

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... 

Watch on YouTube.

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