The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

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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:  

1. Why did we start reading the Red Son comic? 

2. What were our expectations? 

3. What did we like the most about it? How did these positive points compare to the movie version? 

4. What didn't we like about it? 

5. What's our rating?  

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Links:  

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

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

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.

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:  

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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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?

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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.