The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

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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:  

1. What do you think has changed and what has stayed the same?   

2. How do you think you approached the historical setting differently compared to when you first began Beyond The Grey Skies?  

3. Which part did you enjoy writing the most in this AU?  

4. Who is the most different from their canon self? Annibale, Amaranta, or Aurelia?

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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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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)

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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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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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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?