We are looking at the famous (for some reason) "philosophical" science fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem this week!

What does "philosophical" mean? Apparently it means that none of the characters do anything sensible and the fundamental question the book asks is so simple that it doesn't even need to be applied to aliens alone. Yikes.

At one point, we refer to "Pitch Meetings," so here's a link to those if you want some good laughs about bad movies:

https://www.youtube.com/@PitchMeetings

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠

This week we're looking at Justin's novella that takes place after the events of The Good Guy. Tammy and Ursgelda are back, and they're thrown into another world where vampires are not at all the powerhouses they're used to seeing.

Lots of comedy and analysis, and some fun tangents in this one!

Go read Quest of the Vampire Lords:

1) https://muppy.substack.com/p/quest-of-the-vampire-lords-part-1

2) https://muppy.substack.com/p/quest-of-the-vampire-lords-part-2

3) https://muppy.substack.com/p/quest-of-the-vampire-lords-part-3

4) https://muppy.substack.com/p/quest-of-the-vampire-lords-part-4

And, also referenced in this episode...

Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett

https://a.co/d/dXy8Ghk

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

https://a.co/d/crUSEdW

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠

This week, we're springboarding off of my recent binge-watch of a good chunk of Star Trek (the original TV series). Despite some negative aspects, such as frequent repetition of some plot elements, the show does have quite a few interesting things to say.

It sits halfway between the prolific pulp of the early 1900s and the split in the late 1900s that moved a good chunk of sci-fi into a more bombastic fantasy tone, and the other half into philosophical or pseudo-philosophical writing.

This, and some tangents into early Doctor Who and (oddly enough) Sonic the Hedgehog!

Check out our other stuff at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠

This week we're springboarding off of Justin's recent trip to the Combobreaker conference to talk about a weird writing format: super short character interaction vignettes and flash fiction narratives!

Fighting games are a weird animal (Primal Rage 2 included), and you'd think writing for them is meaningless or just plain silly, but we delve in and explain how even these seemingly superfluous stories require a bit of special attention!

This, plus our usual share of silliness and sidetracks in this week's Wordy Pair!

Also, go check out Brian Clark's book "Gameplay Harmonies" if video game music is something you're at all interested in!

https://a.co/d/3nULePx

Check out our other stuff at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠

This week we're taking a look at "Are You Being Served?" In case you haven't heard of it, it is an extremely popular British sitcom that ran from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s.

It was so popular that it had a film and a theater play, as well as a spin-off series! In 2006, it was ranked 20th out of all British sitcoms, which put it behind shows like Blackadder, but--and this is for you younguns--ahead of The Office! It is hard to argue that the show didn't have some serious comedy chops.

Unfortunately, the BBC tried to reboot the series in 2016, creating one disastrous pilot episode. We'll talk a bit about its failings, compared to the original.

Check out our other stuff at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn

After our examination of the seventh book in the series last week, we decided to take a look at the second movie which came out in 2000, 15 years after the first one!

This movie combines much of the action of the third book with something that was either made up for this movie, or was part of a later book!

The movie is visually stunning, but its writing leaves a lot to be desired--literally! Missing worldbuilding, cut fights... plus a strong tendency for yapping dialogue.

It's a mixed bag, but it's a very well-drawn mixed bag, I guess?

For the full story, the first omnibus is here, with the third book as its third entry:

https://a.co/d/76OqvYg

Check out our other stuff at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠

This week, we're talking about a random book from the Vampire Hunter D series: Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Part One. It's got a bizarre fantasy/sci-fi setting with lots of backstabbing characters, mutants with crazy powers, and a ruined civilization of immortal vampires.

Hideyuki Kikuchi was greatly inspired by Robert E. Howard for his Vampire Hunter D series, although Kikuchi focuses more on action than Howard did.

What we get is the story of a super-powered wandering mercenary and his adventures fighting against the most bizarre, twisted, and powerful monsters in this hellish future world!

Several choices here to read this one:

Omnibus 3 contains this book, its sequel, and one more after:

https://a.co/d/ccboSwz

Or you can get the book by itself:

https://a.co/d/8bakzH2

Check out our other stuff at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠

This week, we're looking at Rudy's first full-length novel, Pursuit of the Heliotrope. We'll be talking about some of his influences, the techniques he developed while he was writing the book, and the ups and downs (especially the downs) of the "first novel" experience!

editor's note: Couldn't get the video version to post properly here on Spotify, so if you want to see what my title cards look like (and a nice little joke around 52:00), you'll have to head to YouTube. https://youtu.be/xAVHIxQO8qo

Pick up a copy on Amazon:

https://a.co/d/dZ6NoAd

or elsewhere:

https://books2read.com/u/bWaQQM

Check out our other stuff at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠

This week we're trying to see if we can shed any light on making time for writing. It seems like a common complaint: "If only I had the time..."

However, we've got a few ideas and strategies, as well as just a few ways to re-organize or re-focus your thoughts to either find some more time to write, make better use of what time you have, or just help you stop beating yourself up because you didn't get a lot down on paper for a day or two, and get back to writing instead.

Hopefully somebody will find it helpful!

Check out our other stuff at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠

Today we're looking at two books Justin wants to talk about.

From their titles, you might guess they are related and we listed them in the wrong order!

...However, you would be wrong. Bizarrely wrong.

Chill with us as we go through these two strange stories!

Check out our other stuff at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@RudolphKohn

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠⁠