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Published on October 14, 2024 17:29

Interview with Science Fiction Western novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 2

Interview with Science Fiction Western novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 2 – How To Write the Future podcast

“What I’ll tell people is to find your writing group, find your writing family.”
— R.A. Clarke

In this episode, “Interview with Western Science Fiction Novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 2” podcast host Beth Barany continues her interview with Rachael Clarke where they discuss Rachael’s writing process, including one of the biggest points of struggles. Plus, they share why it’s important to be a part of a writing community.

Listen to part 1 where they both discuss Rachael’s first full-length novel published under her pseudonym R.A. Clarke, Race to Novus.

RESOURCES

Part 1 – https://writersfunzone.com/blog/2024/10/07/interview-with-western-science-fiction-novelist-rachael-clarke-part-1/

Write State of Mind – https://www.facebook.com/groups/writestateofmind/

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

Get support for your fiction writing by a novelist and writing teacher and coach. Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

The *How To Write The Future* podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers. This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

About Rachael Clarke

R.A. Clarke is a former police officer turned stay-at-home mom living with her family in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Besides raising two rambunctious boys, soaking in much needed lake time, illustrating, and acting in community theatre, R.A.’s spare time is spent plotting, fantastical novels, and multi-genre short fiction. Her tales have been featured in various publications, and she has won international contests, such as Red Penguin Books’ humour contest, the Writer’s Weekly 24-Hour Contest, The Writers Workout: Writer’s Games, and the 2023 Write Fighters 3-Day Novella Challenge. She was also named a finalist for the 2021 Hindi’s Librairies Females of Fiction Awards, the 2021 Futurescapes Award (for “Race to Novus”), and the 2022 Dark Sire Awards.

Website: https://www.rachaelclarkewrites.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raclarkeauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachaelclarkewrites

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rachaelclarke9631

Sign up for my newsletter and recieve an exclusive short story from the “Race to Novus” world (a prequel). https://eepurl.com/ih-3XH

To follow all of my adventures writing and illustrating children’s books specifically, visit: https://www.facebook.com/rachaelclarkewrites.com

Other contact: https://linktr.ee/raclarkewrites

Transcript for Interview with Western science fiction novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 2

BETH BARANY: Hey everyone. Welcome to How To Write the Future Podcast. I’m your host, Beth Barany. I am a creativity coach, science fiction and fantasy writer and writing teacher, and obviously host of this podcast. I do this podcast to help fiction writers, specifically science fiction and fantasy writers, but also anyone who cares about the future.

I care about helping you shape positive, optimistic futures because with our imagination, which is such a powerful tool, with our imagination, we can help remake the world, which is my passion and excitement.

[00:34] Intro to Part 2 The Importance of Writing Support Groups and Your Writing Process

BETH BARANY: I just wanna underscore for everybody listening, ’cause I’m a writing teacher and a coach and I run my own groups, how important it is that we have support groups and I love that you have your in-person groups, you have your online groups. As many groups as you can handle is what I recommend people do. Places where they get to be with their peers, you get to be with your peers. You’re running a group, which also allows you to learn in a new way. And we learn from our peers, we learn from our students, we learn from our mentors, and which can come in all kinds of forms. I’m really pleased that you’re doing that, and also just to model for other people who might be struggling.

[01:08] One of the biggest points of struggle

BETH BARANY: One of the biggest points of struggle is that they’re too isolated. And actually it’s a huge myth that writers are just these solo- You’re off by yourself. There is that period where we’re writing and it’s just you and the page, and then your story, but then everything else about being a writer like you have shown us is community.

[01:28] Writing Community

BETH BARANY: It’s our peers, it’s our critique partners, it’s our support network, it’s our family.

And then it’s your fans and your readers and the people who buy your books and all that good stuff.

RACHAEL CLARKE: Absolutely.

BETH BARANY: Yeah. So I really love that you are showcasing that because I meet authors all the time who are struggling with the balance that, that you have so beautifully carved out.

[01:48] Rachael’s Writing Process

BETH BARANY: So I am curious also about your writing process. If you find that you infuse parts of yourself into your stories or your characters.

RACHAEL CLARKE: Yes. So I do, I definitely do. Honest, there are times where I actually actively avoid infusing my real life into characters.

There’s the twofold. So that, yes, I a hundred percent do infuse. So like even Finn Finley Rucker from my novel, there’s parts of me in her, like I’ve struggled with my family.

I’ve struggled with- Not necessarily like feeling like myself or like I know myself fully or that like I feel like I need a new start or that I’m struggling. A lot of people can probably relate to those things as well.Some of that, those experiences that I’ve gone through with my family did sneak into to Finn a little bit because I felt like I could relate to that character in that way.

And so in some ways, I could then help that character be realized more clearly.

Also, I love horses, so of course she’s gonna love horses. Maybe a little bit of a quirky sense of humor, a little bit of moxie at times.

I wouldn’t say she’s a, excuse my language, but a ballbuster. But she’s an adventurous girl and she’s willing to get her hands dirty and get in there. I see myself in that same way. I’ve never been afraid of getting my hands dirty.

And, so yeah, there’s bits of me and her, but she’s definitely her own character. She’s not me.

And same there’s bits of people I know in a lot of my characters.

Or my experiences wherever I’ve been, wherever I’ve traveled, anything that I’ve toiled with or whatever, those things can definitely make their way into my novel and be described, because we write what we know, So if we’ve lived those experiences, that’s even better and more clear, in our writing. And I don’t know. I haven’t heard a lot other authors really say this or talk about this much, but I don’t know. That’s the way I am. I try and avoid, making my characters into people I know. I want them to be completely made up and I create them from the ground up. Yeah. Sometimes I go that direction too, where it’s like, no, I don’t need this character to be like anybody.I want this character to be its own thing.

BETH BARANY: Yeah. Yeah.

If that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. As a writer myself and also as a writing teacher, It’s sometimes much easier to create characters that are very different from us and can be very challenging to create characters that are very alike. And it’s a great exercise and stretch to be playing with characters that are completely different.

[03:54] World-Building Science Fiction and Fantasy

BETH BARANY: I wanna touch a little bit on your world building and I’m curious if we can, if you can tell us a little bit like what draws you and has drawn you to write science fiction and fantasy.

RACHAEL CLARKE: That’s a good question. Gosh, it’s hard to actually pinpoint that. How do you nail that down? I write a little bit of a lot, especially so say with my short stories, when it’s themed and prompted contests, you get everything and you really step out of your comfort zone and you’re trying all kinds of different genres.

And so I have written a lot of things. I also quite enjoy fantasy.but I always gravitate to sci-fi.

All of my long form works, like all my ideas for my novels, which the list is quite long at this point, and I never have enough time. I’m never gonna be able to write them all, but they’re all sci-fi and yeah.

I honestly think it’s just my desire. Escapism is big for me. Because I have had some struggles with PTD and different things, diving back into that writing world and really going into a whole new place. And it’s not even real. It’s not the real world, it’s future. It can be whatever I want it to be.

I can think about what things could be and how they can affect things and how they interact with things. And just using my imagination. I really like that and I’ve always been a sci-fi enthusiast, like I was a movie buff. My first job was at a movie store at the corner. And I prided myself on being that person that people would ask and I’d be able to tell them the most obscure, they’d be like, oh, it’s that movie with that guy that had the toupee and like he rode the horse. Remember that? Do you know that what I’m talking about?

And I’d be like, oh yeah, that’s this and this, And like I had 1500 VHS at one time in my collection. anyways,

I love movies and I love sci-fi, like Stargate, was a huge influence. I’m trying to think. Obviously Star Wars, Star Trek, love, Star Trek, and like a lot of different things.

BETH BARANY: And yeah, definitely a sci-fi person. So I think that just sets me up for it, I love watching films like that. I love reading books like that. And obviously I love writing it too, so yeah, I don’t know. I think that’s great. Just the notion that when we write about the future and we can write about anything. And really explore some things. Yeah. Like your, how your current novels came from What-If.

What would horses look like in the future? What modifications might they have? And yeah, I just love that.

[06:01] Warrior Women

BETH BARANY: So can I ask you some questions about being a police officer?

RACHAEL CLARKE: Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah, go for it. I’m an open book. Yeah.

BETH BARANY: The reason I’m very interested in that is because I have a passion project about writing about warrior women. Both of my protagonists, my heroines, have a past in the military and one of them was a military cop and the other is a fantasy setting, so she was a soldier. And the other was in like a future version of the Space Force that I’ve invented and also military cop and has a science background. I too am very interested in science and I’ve always been interested, I think in like how things work.

And I’m also curious in your perspective, if being a cop influences- the fact that you were a police officer, if that influences your writing in any way or if it influences the questions you wanna explore or the stories you wanna tell. Just exploring.

RACHAEL CLARKE: For sure. it will and it does. Okay. And I do have other writer friends that ask me questions too, if they’re writing a story and they’ll be like, Hey, would this happen?

Or can I bounce something off of you? And I love helping them if I can.

Obviously, policing is different wherever you go geographically. Yeah.

But yeah, it does influence how I work because there’s some, I find there’s some scenes that maybe I could write that might automatically- I know things, some things, right?

So when I write a story, a chase scene with a police officer or something, or anything of that nature, I can use some lingo or use some descriptions I would say would be mostly plausible, across the board for the most part.

So that has helped me and definitely does influence my stories. But that said, I don’t actively pursue writing police stories and it’s not because I would ever do it.

But I don’t know, part of me has put that in my past. Yeah, because of the challenges that were there. And so that’s why I think I like the wild creativity of fiction and speculative fiction so much.

And I don’t know, I don’t want to dive back into that world too much, I guess if that makes sense. ’cause sometimes it can trigger me to be honest. Yeah. But I definitely, it definitely does get, I definitely use it. It’s definitely there. And if I have to rely on that knowledge, I do, I don’t run away from it, but I don’t actively dive into it either of that.

BETH BARANY: Yeah. When I’m writing, it’s a leap for me. I’m writing about murder mysteries set on space stations, so I’m entering a world that I don’t know, but I do a lot of research for,

which is part of the adventuresomeness of being a fiction writer. You get to enter worlds, you get to research things that you don’t know as best you can.

RACHAEL CLARKE: Absolutely. Yeah. yeah. And I was gonna say, especially like with when it’s fantastical, when it’s not like contemporary based. then I don’t think I would ever get triggered by that, honestly, in that regard because it is so different.

You can make cops into anything you want in the future. And I’m trying to think of- what’s his book? Oh, it’s The Expanse. Yeah. Think of like the investigators in the Expanse.

it’s so far removed from anything that would ever be what I would’ve ever done, So it’s in some instances, yeah. It just, but it’s just fun.

BETH BARANY: Yeah. And he’s still investigator and he is still asking questions and he is still going where he shouldn’t be going.

It’s still the core of what an investigator doesn’t change.

RACHAEL CLARKE: Exactly. Yeah.

[09:10] What’s Next for Rachael Clarke

RACHAEL CLARKE: I am so excited for you. I wanna really encourage folks to check out your book.

BETH BARANY: And it’s fabulous that you’ve got a trilogy, or two more books coming. And speaking of that, so what are you working on now and,what’s next for you?

RACHAEL CLARKE: It’s all exciting. I’ve got a few irons in the fire, just like you said, you’ve got a bunch of things on the go. I’m the same. I’m taking a bit of a break right now from writing a lot of short fiction and trying to focus on bigger projects.

So I am definitely writing the sequel to Race To Novus. I’m almost done it actually the first draft.And it’s gonna be called Fight For Revaru, which is the name of a location in the book, which I cannot disclose too much about.

So, yeah. Um, and then after that, I’m hoping this NaNoWriMo, I’m gonna dive into book three and start drafting that, but I also have a couple novellas that I’ve been working on.

One of ’em actually is called, Becoming Grace, and it actually won, the Right Fighters Three-day novella challenge last year, which was like, woo-hoo, yay. But it needs some more, obviously you can only write so much in three days, so there’s gonna be things that you wanna, flesh it out some more, So I’m working on that actually slowly right now, and I’m hoping to put that out at some point, maybe next year. I don’t know. Yeah, so I was just working on little things here and there, but the novel, I’m really focusing on getting my Race to Novus trilogy done.

BETH BARANY: Yeah.

RACHAEL CLARKE: And then, and then yeah, we’ll go from there. Pick another idea and run with it.

BETH BARANY: And if people wanna find out more about you, where can they go?

RACHAEL CLARKE: Absolutely. So I’ve got lots of social media, but the best way, I guess the easiest way would be to hop onto my website, which is RachaelClarkeWrites.com.

[10:42] Connect with Rachael Clarke

BETH BARANY: Rachael, it’s been so much fun chatting with you.

I definitely wanna have you back when you get book two out. I wanna encourage everyone to check out Rachael’s book, Race to Novus. I will have the book cover on the screen if you’re looking at YouTube. And all of Rachael’s links will be in the show notes or the show description, blog post, wherever the details of this podcast episode are.

[11:04] Advice for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers

BETH BARANY: Just to finish up, is there any piece of advice that you would like to offer other writers who are writing science fiction or fantasy? Any like hot tip or top of mind tip that you would like to offer other writers?

RACHAEL CLARKE: I think we already touched on it. Usually what I’ll tell people is to find your writing group, find your writing family.

That’s really important. But also to go along with that, I would say try and find critique partners. People that you can exchange reads with people that are on the same wavelength as you. It doesn’t have to be, you know, rewriting the exact same thing, but that you can get each other and work well with each other.

it’s worth its weight in gold. I do so much beta reading for people and and. I learned so much from other people. And also you make invaluable relationships and connections with other writers that way. It truly is a kind of a family thing. You need people around you and you’re gonna share their work, and they’re gonna share yours.

And it really is a family thing and just to uplift each other. yeah, I would say that would be my hot tip, is find yourself, a few good critique partners.

BETH BARANY: Yeah. That’s so great. I would just underscore that about a million times. You’re so right on. And we write alone, but we succeed together.

Yes. So I wish you much success and thank you so much for being a guest on how to Write the Future.

RACHAEL CLARKE: I love it. Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a blast.

That’s so great. All right, everyone, thank you so much for listening to this episode of How to Write The Future.

Write Long and Prosper.

That’s a wrap. All right. Do you, how do you like my sign off?

***

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061

Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.

ABOUT BETH BARANY

Image of Beth Barany

Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She’s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, “How To Write The Future.”

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

CREDITS EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

C 2024 BETH BARANY

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

The post Interview with Science Fiction Western novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 2 appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on October 14, 2024 04:39

October 11, 2024

Q&A with Writer and Editor, Erin Lale

Please welcome Erin Lale to our Featured Author Q&A series at Writer’s Fun Zone. Enjoy!

***

If you’d like to be considered for an interview, check out our guidelines here.

***

About Erin Lale

Erin Lale has over 40 years’ experience in the publishing industry. She owned The Science Fiction Store in Las Vegas, published Berserkrgangr Magazine, has been a pro guest at WorldCon, and was contributing editor to the anthologies No Horns On These Helmets, Cassandra’s Time Yarns, Anarchy Zone Time Yarns, and Cat’s Cradle Time Yarns. She was a frequent contributor to Perihelion Science Fiction, published the sf novel Planet of the Magi, and the Punch series, which are currently out of print, and wrote and directed the Time Yarns Universe trailer and the art film Rain Dance. Her most famous book is the out of print nonfiction book Asatru For Beginners and its new, updated version Asatru: A Beginner’s Guide to the Heathen Path. She lives in Henderson, Nevada with her sweet kitty Sweetheart.

On to Our Interview!

Q. Tell us who you are and what inspires you to write.

A. I’ve always loved sf&f and I specialize in that in both my own fiction writing and in editing. I love helping other authors bring their stories to life. I also write and edit nonfiction relating to heathenry and paganism.

Q. How did you get to this place in your life? Share your story!

A. I’m also a writer in addition to an editor. I published fiction, poetry, and nonfiction as a child and through college. After college, my degree became suddenly useless; it was in Soviet Political Analysis. So I started freelance copyediting. I published my own writing, published a magazine, owned a bookstore, edited anthologies, reviewed books, and became acquisitions editor at a genre novel publisher, which I loved. That’s where I started doing developmental fiction editing, which I now do freelance.

Q. What are you most passionate about?

A. Cats! lol. One of the short fiction anthologies of which I was contributing editor had a cat theme, and I published the nonfiction essay Cats in Science Fiction in the magazine Perihelion Science Fiction. I’ve reviewed several sf&f books with cat characters, too.

But I also love words, and the writing and editing processes. My inner self-image is of a poet. Perhaps full of the mead of inspiration? Or coffee. Pretty sure that’s actually coffee.

I really enjoy seeing writers I’ve worked with achieve success. I’m still proud that a writer I worked with at Eternal / Damnation, Rudy Garcia, won an award from the International Latino Book Awards for his speculative fiction novel, The Closet of Discarded Dreams. Another author I worked with there, Declan Finn, won a Dragon Award for his vampire novel Honor at Stake. An author I worked with as a freelancer is in the process of working out an option to film his novel that I edited; when the deal is complete I’ll be sharing his announcement on my social media. I love having a part in their success.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process, routine, and/or rituals around your writing?

A. My fiction and poetry writing is often inspired and driven, but editing and nonfiction writing are usually things I just do. When I have a block of relatively uninterrupted time, if I have an editing project to work on, I set a water or coffee at my desk and I just sit down at the computer and go. I say relatively uninterrupted because if I can I’ll pause for the paws. When the kitty wants attention he usually gets it.

Q. What are a few challenges you faced in creating, marketing, or publishing your creative work? And your solutions to them.

A. Just talking about the freelance editing, it’s sometimes a challenge to get the word out to new potential customers. I post on social media when I have editing slots available. I joined the I Need a Book Editor group on Facebook to see posts from writers seeking book editors, but it hasn’t brought me much. There are usually dozens of editors responding to each writer post, and most of the projects available there are not in my specialty area. So far most of my freelance editing customers are writers I worked with when I was corporate. I would really like to expand my client list beyond writers who published with Eternal / Damnation, and I’m hoping that doing this interview here on Writer’s Fun Zone might bring me to a new group of writers.

Q. What do you wish you had known before you started writing fiction?

A. Oh… here I’m going to combine my life as a writer and my life as an editor and tell you that being an acquisitions editor changed the way I write fiction. When I was acquiring novels for publication, I had to think about what an editor could fix about a manuscript that needed work, especially at the stage of developmental editing. I realized that the one thing that is hardest to fix is a weak plot. When I write my own fiction, I used to start with characters talking in my head and I would just start writing their dialog and string the plot together later. After I worked as the acquisitions editor at Eternal Press and Damnation Books for 5 years, I started outlining a plot before starting to write a new story.

Q. What’s next for you in your creative work?

A. My next scheduled editing project is going to be book 3 in a series involving paranormal and urban fantasy elements and a mystery plot. I edited the first two books in the series.

After that, I hope I’ll be working on a new project from one of you.

Q. Some editors do sample edits. Do you do sample edits for prospective clients?

A. I could do a small amount of copyediting, but if someone is getting developmental editing there is really limited stuff I could do without reading the whole book. I don’t do free samples, but I would not mind doing a 1-page or 1-chapter copyedit if that’s what someone wants to buy first. I would apply the price of the sample to the full book if they decide to go ahead, so they don’t end up paying twice for the same thing.

If someone really wants to try a sample of developmental editing I could check the first chapter to see if it has Prologue Syndrome / First Chapter Syndrome. I could see if it has a story hook, if it introduces the main character sufficiently, if it starts with action or otherwise shows how exciting the rest of the book will be, and if it has any obvious problems out of the gate. But I would not be able to check any structural elements without reading the whole book.

Q. Who is your favorite author?

A, My favorite living author is Lois McMaster Bujold. I enjoy both her science fiction and her fantasy novels and short stories. There will always be a special place in my heart for Tolkien, but as far as influence goes, his biggest influence on my own writing and on the advice I give authors is about world-building. His actual writing style is too archaic to be applied to authors today, unless they’re trying to write in a deliberately old-fashioned manner.

Q. How do you work with clients, specifically do you meet with them over phone or video?

A. I could do phone or video calls but I usually don’t. I usually just use email. That’s pretty much an industry standard. When I was acquisitions editor of Eternal Press and Damnation Books I communicated with authors and potential authors by email and social media messenger. I communicated with my boss only by email. Since writing and editing are text-based activities, the publishing industry tends to attract people who are most comfortable writing rather than talking out loud.

Q. What are some things your past clients have said about working together?

A. I have a couple of examples on the editing page on my website. The quotes appear in the photo on the top of the screen, and they are part of the autographs in books authors spontaneously have mailed me as gifts. Those are both books I worked on as a freelance editor. One quote is, “With love and appreciation for all your support,” from Susannah MacDonald, on a copy of Echoes from a Time Passage, a science fiction novel. The other quote is “To my brilliant editor,” from Count S.A. Olson, on a copy of Demon for Hire, a supernatural detective novel.

There were several books in which I and other members of the Eternal / Damnation staff were mentioned on the dedication page, in books published while I was acquisitions editor. I didn’t keep a list of them at the time, and the company was sold and then closed years ago, so there are no longer published e-books from the company that I can link people to.

Back to talking about books I’ve edited freelance, I had a really exceptional experience with Kevin M. Smith’s boxing novel Human Chess. The author wanted my autograph on his book. He collected a bunch of autographs of various people that had something to do with his novel, including various famous boxing figures. It was pretty exciting to be asked to sign on the same page as them!

Q. Is there anything else you wished I’d asked? Please share!

A. Here’s a link to my previous appearance on this site, where I talked about my book How to Turn Your Fan Fiction into a Novel. This appeared when the Thor movie was in theaters and the article talks specifically about turning a Thor Marvel fanfic into a Thor mythology original story via changing the world-building to reflect mythology.

About Erin Lale’s Editing Services

My Full Editing services include both developmental editing and copyediting. My fee includes a second pass through the manuscript after the author has made changes suggested in the developmental editing.

Connect with Erin Lale

Site Link https://www.erinlaleauthor.com/editor.html
Twitter https://twitter.com/erinlale
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/erin.lale
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinlale

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Published on October 11, 2024 03:00

October 7, 2024

Interview with Science Fiction Western novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 1

How To Write the Future podcast, episode 121 – Interview with Science FictionWestern novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 1

“I’m passionate about sci-fi and I was thinking, I just I love horses so much, and I started thinking, what would horses be like in the future? What does that look like? What would happen? My brain started like kind of spiraling and brainstorming with this, what would a horse be like in the future?” — R.A. Clarke

In this episode, “Interview with Science Fiction Western Novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 1” podcast host Beth Barany talks to Rachael Clarke where they discuss Rachael’s first full-length novel published under her pseudonym R.A. Clarke called Race to Novus. They delve into the inspiration behind the world building for the novel plus the benefits of having a support team around you when working on a novel.

RESOURCES

Write State of Mind – https://www.facebook.com/groups/writestateofmind/

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE:

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

About Rachael Clarke

Image of Rachael Clarke

Website: https://www.rachaelclarkewrites.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raclarkeauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachaelclarkewrites

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Transcript for Interview with science fiction western novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 1

[00:34] Welcome Rachael Clarke

BETH BARANY: So I am so glad to welcome today Rachael Clarke, a science fiction author who lives in Manitoba.

Welcome, Rachel.

Hello. Hello. Happy to be here. I’m so glad that you are, and I understand that you just launched your first full length novel. Is that right?

RACHAEL CLARKE: That is a hundred percent right. Yes. Yes. That’s very exciting. I’ve published a couple books before, but this is my very first ever full length, big novel.

So yeah, I’m very excited.

BETH BARANY: That’s so great.

RACHAEL CLARKE: So

BETH BARANY: I see it’s called Race to Novus. Did I say that right?

RACHAEL CLARKE: Yep. You did. He did Race to Novus. Yep.

BETH BARANY: Can you show us, for those of you watching on YouTube, you’ll be able to see this beautiful thing. Awesome. And it’s a woman next to a horse. and your writing name for this novel is RA Clark.

[01:21] What inspired you to write this novel?

BETH BARANY: Fabulous. I’m so curious, I love the premise of this book. Can you tell us a little bit about the book, like the blurb, and what inspired you to write this novel?

RACHAEL CLARKE: Absolutely. Um. Well, a little bit about the book. Basically there’s a down on her luck cowgirl, actually from the prairies on Earth.

And, she’s gotten herself into a bit of trouble. She’s in a lot of death within, in her, on bad terms with her family, and she’s feeling desperate. She also has a bionic horse named Hercules, AKA Herc for short. And she’s, it’s like he’s beloved to her and he is under threat of being sold by the family for money.

And so this spurs her on basically she’s on this precipice. I need to decide what I wanna do here. I can’t stay in this situation I’m in. I need to try and find a new future for myself. And I can’t let my horse be sold. And so she whisks her way to the edge of explored space to a planet,just barely explored planet, and enters this nebulous race. Race to Novus.

Yeah, it’s crazy. It takes them through an uncharted, forest, which morphs into a jungle and there’s like toxic air and there’s creatures that come into the mix and unexpected peoples. And there’s lots of, lots of intrigue and lots of adventure. Tons of thrills.

It’s, yeah, it’s a fun- It’s a fun ride, I guess is how I would describe it.

BETH BARANY: It’s like western science fiction.

RACHAEL CLARKE: Yeah. It’s, yeah, it’s definitely a western sci-fi, sci-fi, western, however you want to say it. And then there is also some elements of fantasy. And also like a hint of romance for those that like a little bit of a slow burn romance that goes on.

So there is that, and it’s supposed to be a trilogy, so I’m actually, working on the next books and yeah, the inspiration for this book actually, funny enough. I don’t know if it’s funny to me, it’s funny. I write a lot of short stories. I do a lot of contests and I love writing prompts.

I really love them. I get a lot of my ideas that way. And through this contest that I had entered called the Writer’s Games, which is held by the Writers Workshop, I participated in this many times and they had big world building episode or event. So I’m like, oh, world building.

Yay. And so I’m passionate about Sci-fi and I was thinking, I just, I love horses so much, and I started thinking, what would horses be like in the future? What does that look like? What would happen? Like it just, my brain started like spiraling and brainstorming with this, what would a horse be like in the future?

And like I thought about genetic refining, like how would they change, would they do full on robots? Would there even be horses? And there was all these things. And of course you go down this rabbit hole, right? And that’s where it all started. It started with the horse and I came up with Herc. he’s a bionic horse with four prosthetic legs.

He’s got an ocular implant that changes with his moods. I call it the mood ring eye. and then I came up with a, who’s gonna own, who’s gonna ride him, who’s gonna love him? And so the dynamic duo of Finnley Rucker and Herc. And then the stories took off from there.

The world started creating it, and it was just a short story, but I couldn’t get it over my, out of my mind. I loved it so much in the world, and I became a little bit obsessed with it. And yeah, I just knew that this was gonna be the novel. I knew it had to be, there was so much more there.

BETH BARANY: Yeah. Love how you love prompts. I saw on your website you have two prompt books, and I know writers really love those. I’ve created a prompt book as well. Oh, nice. Yeah. And yours look really fun. I haven’t had a chance to take a look, but I encourage everyone who loves prompts to take a look.

So cool. I just love that you are so enthusiastic too about world building and just, I offer a world building workbook for people and ’cause that can be a challenge. And it sounds like for you, it’s really a strength and it’s so exciting to hear how you did that and how you just went step by step and imagined horses in the future.

[04:53] Do you have horses of your own?

BETH BARANY: Do you have horses of your own?

Oh gosh. I wish. I was that girl that always asked for the ponies and I collect briar horses, like I’ve got models all over the place. I’ve got all kinds of like horse models and like, no,

BETH BARANY: Show us. What was that? Put a few in the camera in the front of you.

Yeah. Beautiful. Are these, so these are specific kinds of horses?

RACHAEL CLARKE: There’s different ones, yeah, there’s like a workhorse. And then I’ve got, let’s see here’s a Friesian. So Hercules from my novel isn’t a Friesian horse, so this is an actual Friesian.

BETH BARANY: Oh, gorgeous. Oh yeah.

RACHAEL CLARKE: And I actually painted a couple to look like Herc from my book, which is like totally nerdish.

I know, but I totally did it. So

BETH BARANY: merch.

Merchandise. That’s great.

Yeah. I love it. I collect dragons, so I have them all. Oh, nice.different kinds, different cultures. Yeah. That’s so cool. And yeah. so you, I’m a cowgirl at heart, I guess you’d say.

Yeah. But

RACHAEL CLARKE: I just sadly never actually became one.

Yeah.

BETH BARANY: And are, do you live out in the plains? You live in Manitoba and for those of us in the US may not know, but Manitoba’s in the middle of Canada, right?

RACHAEL CLARKE: Yeah. We’re definitely part of the Prairie Land of Canada. We’re in that zone. There’s other areas that are probably more, cowboy country you might say, but we definitely have lots, we have rodeos and all kinds of fun stuff around here too, Yep. Yeah, the land of the big skies.

BETH BARANY: Love that. That’s so evocative right there. The land of the big skies. Oh, I love it.great.

[06:12] Balancing Your Self-Publishing Journey

BETH BARANY: And so how do you balance you, you mentioned that you’re a stay at home mom. A writer and you mentioned you’re also an indie press owner. Does that mean you publish other people’s work?

RACHAEL CLARKE: I’m just very barely starting. I’ve started my own company. So when I started, when I decided back in 2020 to start self-publishing my books, which started with my children’s chapter book, the Big Old Bike, which I wrote and illustrated. That was my very first foray into publishing.

And so I decided I wanted to create my own imprint, rather than just saying, self-published book. I wanted it to be something, I wanted to create my own company. and so I, I founded Page Term Press, which is my little tiny micro indie press. And I’ve have what, four or five other books now self-published.

And they’re all just by me. So I’ve done a short story anthology, my prompt books.

But this past year, what I started, I just, I bumped up into the next phase and slowly growing very incrementally.

And I, as I said, I’m very passionate about short stories. So what I did is I opened up a call for fellow authors to submit their short stories to me for an anthology, a themed anthology, which was the all about deadly flora.

So if you’ve ever wondered a life where plants are against you, not for you and not peaceful, this book is what you definitely wanna be reading. It’s, sci-fi, dark fiction, lots of different things like that.

So that was my first foray into that. So I’m publishing other people’s work now. I’m keeping it at the short story format right now. So an anthology. So yeah, there’s gonna be more to come.

So that’s exciting. So that’s my little micro press experience.

And, gosh, the balancing is always fun. That’s exactly the right word for it is balance. It can be hard to balance it. So I do have two young kids, one’s eight and one’s five, almost six And they’re the love of my life, but obviously it’s busy. I’m a stay at home mom, so I used to be a police officer for about 10 years.

BETH BARANY: Yeah.

RACHAEL CLARKE: Back in the day. I’ve been out of the game now since 2017 ish. and I did get PTSD, I had some really hard times from that and some health complications that came along with it.

So there were some struggles there, some healing that had to take place and it’s still taking place. but I, over time I started thinking I need to start finding a new passion here. Wat am I gonna do next? And so I moved into I’m gonna chase those old dreams.

I’ve always written, I’ve always painted, I’ve always been creative. Let’s start, let’s do that. and that’s what spurred me on to do all of this and start writing more seriously. And being a stay-at-Home Mom, it was a challenge in a way because all of a sudden I’m splitting my attentions.

And so what I do is obviously I, I think a lot of moms that also write will do this.I find little bits through the day. if there’s times where the kids are playing and they’re busy and they’re, they’re occupado, then I can sneak in and open up my Google Docs and start writing something or working on something.

So I, I take my time where I can. Yeah. But then I also really, I usually carve out that time at the end of the day when they’re in bed, I’ll go downstairs and I’ll write for a couple hours, or whatever. Sometimes it makes for late nights. Yeah. But. We do what we do and and then now that the kids are getting a bit older and they’re starting to get into school-

My youngest is like halftime at kindergarten, so I actually have a couple days a week where I can write and focus on some things like that. I. Once your kids are in school it becomes a lot easier because then now it becomes more like a job. if you’re not working elsewhere, you can make that your job.

And that’s where I’m at, yeah, I’m looking at, I like my part-time job.

So It’s worked out nicely that way, and I do drive my family crazy. Sometimes I get a little bit obsessive with my writing. You get into a zone and you’re going like, ah, yeah.

So I do have to reign myself in a bit, It’s that balance word again, right? Yeah. but I do Nanowrimo, I don’t know if you’re familiar with Oh yeah. National Novel Writing Month. Okay. So I do that and that’s like I barter with my husband for that month.

BETH BARANY: So it’s

RACHAEL CLARKE: Okay, I won’t be as crazy with my writing if you let me go nuts in November, you know?

So anyway. Yeah.

[09:42] Writer Support

BETH BARANY: I love it. I love that you barter, because I was, my next question, or like a follow on question was what kind of support do you have around you so that you can be continually working on your writing?

And it sounds like you, you barter with your husband and do have other forms of support?

Some people have writing groups or teachers or coaches or where you can say, Bye-Bye. I’m going to class. Or bye-Bye. I’m going to critique group, or whatever it is. Or Bye-Bye. I’m having a podcast interview like you’re doing now, right?

RACHAEL CLARKE: Yeah. obviously yeah. they’re all about, if I’m podcast interviews, they’re excited.

They’re like, woo, go ahead. I, my husband’s I got the kids. Just do your thing.

I’ve been really blessed in that way with having a supportive kind of family, like helping me. Cheer me on and all that fun stuff. I also have writing groups, so I really encourage people. Writing groups are amazing, so both online and in person and I think in person is really valuable too.

Like sometimes depending on where you live that can be a challenge ’cause not everywhere has writing groups.

I live in a smaller city, so there’s not a lot of writing groups, but there’s a couple and I’m part of both. So yeah, I, once a month we meet up for both of these groups and I try and go whenever I can.

And it’s nice. Everyone writes different stuff. There’s really, it’s not like a sci-fi or fantasy group, it’s just a writing group. Yeah. so it’s good in a way too, because you can broaden your horizons and hear all kinds of different writing styles and different like genres or poems or just like anything.

And, we get to learn from each other and support each other and also get to know, and also uplift other creatives that they’re living in your community.

Yeah, I really like that. and I do have some pretty, like a pretty awesome writing group. A couple of them, I’ve, I have my own Facebook group that I’ve started, called Write State of Mind.

So if anyone’s looking for, a little writing group, feel free to pop on over. We’re small and we’re, we’re there and we’re a decent little group, I also part of a group called WAB, just WAB. But anyways, I’ll give them the shout out here. I’ve been in that group since I started back to writing, and it’s my writing family. We really support each other. So no, I don’t think I would be half of where I am maybe today without having found them, to be honest with you. it’s it’s been good that way.

RACHAEL CLARKE: That’s really great. And is a WAB also on online, or that’s the in person? Yeah they’re definitely findable for sure.

They have limits on how many members they have and whatnot. But yeah, people can find it WAB and feel free to apply if you’re wanna get involved.

BETH BARANY: That’s great. we’ll make sure both of the links are in our show notes. So folks can check those out

[12:02] Resources

Be sure to check out Rachel Clarke’s website. And her fabulous, thrilling. sci-fi western called Race to Novus, the book is now available. You can buy it on Amazon. You can get a hard copy and a signed bookplate plus swag. I really think you will enjoy it. And if you’re not sure you could always click to read an excerpt here.

BETH BARANY: Also, I invite you to check out my World-building Resources for Fiction Writers, the PDF report. Just go ahead and use the link in the description and come on over here and sign up to get your own copy. You can download that and use as a guide to help you overcome any overwhelm that you might have in world-building for your science fiction or fantasy novel. I have over 30 prompts in the report, and it’s actually a workbook for you to use.

That’s it for this week. Write long and prosper.

***Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061

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ABOUT BETH BARANY

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

C 2024 BETH BARANY

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

The post Interview with Science Fiction Western novelist, Rachael Clarke, Part 1 appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on October 07, 2024 00:53

October 4, 2024

Exploit Your Family for Fun and Profit by Catharine Bramkamp

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp as she shares with us “Exploit Your Family for Fun and Profit.” Enjoy!

***

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” — George Burns

When we think about family, we think about memoir or autobiography.

In our memoir, family is a main character, the center of the book.

It can be cathartic or a revenge piece, a direct outlet for your version of a childhood moment or a family story.

Autobiography is all about you regardless of any absolute truth (because what you experience is your own truth).

There are many wonderful books and organizations to help you write your memoir and or autobiography, but this is not one of them.

What we are exploring here is how to use family personalities and dynamics to add volume and drama to your fiction.

Your parents, siblings and cousins can all contribute to your novel through adding depth for more interesting characters, being the first person source for an outrageous plot line or just helpfully add in colorful and completely misremembered emotional holidays and stand-up comedy routines.

“A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.” —Ogden Nash

Family Stories

Let’s start with the favorite family stories.

Family stories have always served as the raw material for scenes, poems, comedy, pretty much anything but an accurate account of the past.

What are your family stories?

Can you recall or will you need to make a concerted effort to ask for those stories again during the holidays?

I would suggest recording your uncle or brother as he tells about the time he jumped from roof to save the family cat, but if they know you are paying close attention, they may become self-conscious and the story will be edited for polite company.

You don’t want that. What you want is the raw story, the details of which inexplicably change with each telling.

This is the stuff of character backstory, who is your character?

Did she love the family cat more than anyone else?

Were you the one stuck with cleaning the litter box?

Why doesn’t anyone else remember that?

Sibling Wisdom

What are the personalities according to birth order?

You can begin with common wisdom:
The oldest makes the rules.
The middle is the reasons we have rules.
For the youngest, rules don’t apply.

Compare the broad generalities to the specific sibling personalities.

What emerges?

How did your birth order change or color your family memories?

Does the oldest remember it differently?

Does the youngest?

Because of birth order, your siblings lived a different childhood from you. It is pointless to confirm your memories against theirs.

You don’t need to ask them “Is this real? Or did this really happen this way?”

Your reality is your reality, use it, exploit it. Go with it.

Is your character the pleasing oldest daughter or the youngest sibling who forgot the boiling water on the stove and almost burned down the house?

Describe your parents’ relationship from two perspectives, yours and a siblings’, or imagine their relationship from your grandparent’s perspective. Both Frank McCourt and Jeanette Walls used imagined perspective to create their fictionalize parents and grandparents.

Think of examples of when you’ve been in business or in a social situation and you learn about the birth order of your boss or friend and you think AH HA!

Use that in your descriptions and motivation for your characters.

These are all great approaches to a fuller character and to help give you a quick backstory to aid in a fictional conversation: the rule follower confronts the rule breaker.

Another happy use of family stories for fictional work is the turn around. Was there a time in the murky family past when the “problem child” abruptly stepped up during an emergency and took care of the situation?

Did you have a spinster aunt who up and married a traveling salesman?

What are the family secrets and can you modify them to create a wonderful sub-plot to your book?

If it can happen in real life, it probably can happen in fiction.

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” —Jane Howard, journalist.

Memoir Recommendations

Here are some memoirs to help remind you of what is possible when an author launches into his or her family past.

“The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank (1947)“Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt (1996)“The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls (2005)“Educated” by Tara Westover (2018)“Night” by Elie Wiesel (1958)“Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah (2016)“Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez” by Richard Rodriguez (1982)“The Liars’ Club” by Mary Karr (1995)“Just Kids” by Patti Smith (2010)“Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” by Cheryl Strayed (2012)Exploit Your Family

Your family can be an open source for fictional characters. When you are faced with a character that refuses to come to life, consider his or her birth order – why do they do what they do?

Recall a family story that has always explained why your uncle is a little crazy, or why your cousin went off the deep end.

Also remember that fiction demands a reasonable conclusion and the ending must make sense.

To this end, you aren’t describing everything about your family member, nor are you telling their whole story, you are merely borrowing a feature of a family member to create a more rounded fictional character. Birth order, family legends, long buried dynamics can enhance your fictional characters and make them jump off the page or off the roof.

When your siblings confront you, deny everything.

Looking for more information like this in handy book form? Out Loud – A Writing Adventure for Women will be out this winter!

***

Want to read more articles like this one Writer’s Fun Zone? Subscribe here.

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catharine Bramkamp is a successful writing coach, Chief Storytelling Officer, former co-producer of Newbie Writers Podcast, and author of a dozen books including the Real Estate Diva Mysteries series, and The Future Girls series. She holds two degrees in English and is an adjunct university professor. After fracturing her wrist, she has figured out there is very little she is able to do with one hand tied behind her back. She delights in inspiring her readers.

The post Exploit Your Family for Fun and Profit by Catharine Bramkamp appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

https://writersfunzone.com/blog/2024/09/23/using-games-to-design-our-futures-with-randy-lubin-part-1/

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Published on October 04, 2024 03:00

September 30, 2024

Using Games to Design our Futures with Randy Lubin, part 2

Using Games to Design our Futures with Randy Lubin, part 2 – How To Write the Future podcast episode 120

“I know for me what I’m working on, especially at the beginning of creating a story I’m asking, because stories have to have escalating conflict, I ask: What is the worst thing that could happen now to my dear lovely character? And now what?What’s worse than that? And what’s worse than that? And that’s how I build my plot.”
— Beth Barany

In this episode of How To Write the Future podcast, host Beth Barany continues her interview with game designer and entrepreneur, Randy Lubin. They share resources for world-building, discuss the difference between “diegetic” and “diegesis”. Plus Randy shares tips on designing games.

Listen to part 1 where they discuss how games can be used as powerful tools for shaping the future.

RESOURCES

Interview Part 1:

Randy Lubin’s game: Premise: Setting, Character, Plot: https://randylubin.itch.io/premise-setting-character-plot

Dialect by Thorny Games: https://thornygames.com/pages/dialect

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story: https://www.superstory.works/ourbooks

School of International Futures (SOIF): https://soif.org.uk/retreat/soif-summer-foresight-retreat/

Association of Professional Futurists latest COMPASS magazine: https://www.apf.org/apf-resources/compass

Get your free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, A short film (We’re in post-production and fundraising!) https://author.bethbarany.com/henrietta-short-film/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

ABOUT RANDY LUBIN

Randy Lubin is a game designer and entrepreneur. He makes foresight games that help organizations explore the future via his studio Leveraged Play. He also makes lighter consumer storytelling games through Diegetic Games.

Website: https://randylubin.com/

X: https://twitter.com/randylubin

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randylubin/

Foresight games studio: https://leveragedplay.com/ Consumer storytelling games: https://diegeticgames.com/ Blog post on integrating foresight games into creative writing:

https://blog.randylubin.com/foresight-workshop-games-creative-writing

Transcript for Using Games to Design our Futures with Randy Lubin, part 2

BETH BARANY: Hey everyone. Welcome back to How To Write the Future Podcast. I’m your host, Beth Barany. I am a creativity coach for writers, science fiction and fantasy writer, writing teacher, and filmmaker. Woo-hoo. More about that later.

[00:13] Part 2 Introduction

BETH BARANY: In part two of my conversation with game designer, Randy Lubin, we talk about the importance of world-building and using games to shape optimistic futures. We also mentioned the concept of trailheads and the book, You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story to help you develop your expansive story universes. And Randy shares tips on designing games, including remixing existing games and how you can create positive scenarios using game frameworks. We also talk about using creative writing techniques in game design to create rich story driven experiences. Enjoy.

[00:57] More Resources for World Building: World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers

BETH BARANY: People love having these rubrics and starting places.

I love what you called them trailheads. That’s so great. And I’ll just throw out there, share with you, but also our listeners, that I have a World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers that lists all these different areas of the world. And I’ve been starting to realize that, I could have like part two, part three.

So part two, I’ve already been daydreaming about.It’ll be a deeper dive into philosophy, religions, and that kind of thing, worldview. And then, book three or another addendum, or however it comes out would be games, activation games, trailheads, as you say, to give people like, here’s a way to expand this.

[01:35] About the book, You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story

BETH BARANY: And another resource for folks is the book, You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story.

Have you seen that?

RANDY LUBIN: I haven’t. Tell me about it.

BETH BARANY: I think you would love it. It’s an offshoot of Jaws. You’re gonna need a bigger boat, right?

So this is called, You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story. And it comes out of these people who help, people create films. Think of Star Wars is a great example. Lucas, he didn’t just have one story. He had what? Seven stories, nine stories? He started with this huge world and then he said I’ll tell this story. It’s a way of mapping out your story world and also coming up with your mission, like what drives you as a creative to tell this huge story. And then working out the milestones and picking which stories are you gonna tell, and then thinking about, oh, this isn’t, maybe, a novel or a movie.

This is a comic book or this is a song, or this is a game. So thinking about the minor stories, the things that can be told in other mediums.

Especially for science fiction and fantasy writers, it just opens up the story universe. And I’ve seen writers just light up when they read this book because it helps them realize that it’s not just one story they’re telling, that they’re in love with the whole story universe they’re creating.

And it’s so helpful and it’s helped me all kinds of things. I already was doing that, but it also just helped me think so much broader.

RANDY LUBIN: I love that. I’ll definitely have to check that out.

And I love how, by, by going big then even when you have the smaller story set within it, I’m almost certain that it’ll always feel like it’s part of a bigger world, a more cohesive world than it might have otherwise.

[3:08] “Paper Diegesis” “Diegetic” “Hyper Diegesis”

RANDY LUBIN: There’s a term I love called, “paper diegesis.” Is this a term you’re familiar, you’ve come across?

BETH BARANY: I’ve heard diegesis. Isn’t that how things came to be?

RANDY LUBIN: Diegetic, at least, and diegesis

From what I’m familiar with, I think it’s used in different ways, in different contexts, but what I’m familiar with is something is diegetic if it’s happening within the story.

So if you’re watching a movie and, characters walking on the street and there’s sound coming outta the boombox, and you, the audience are hearing the music, but you’re hearing it from the boombox that’s diegetic versus something that’s non diegetic would be like the, just the music’s playing is on the soundtrack, but none of the characters hear it.

Hyper diegesis is a term that refers to everything that is happening in universe that you’re not seeing on the screen or on the page, but is implied or inferred or just generative in that, players are connecting, you know, not should I say players because I’m thinking from a game context. The audience is, connecting the dots.

Like there’s a classic example of this captured on film would be in the movie Clerks where they’re talking about are there independent contractors on the Death Star? And, should we feel bad that they’re gonna get killed when the Death Star gets blown up?

There’s nothing in the text of Star Wars that’s talking about the contractors, but because there’s such rich world building, you could naturally start thinking about- hold on a second. A really big space station. Clearly they couldn’t have built it without contractors.

And so anyway, I love thinking through from both like a game design standpoint and from authoring, like how do you build something that feels one: cohesive and: has enough little, again, trailheads, little terms, phrases, organizations that you maybe only see a little bit of but are very generative in, in an audience’s mind of oh, what? What does that imply?

BETH BARANY: Exactly. Yeah. That’s so great. And there’s a really great example from the Star Wars universe where I believe in book one or maybe book, not book one in the original Star Wars movie, or maybe an Empire Strikes Back, there’s a mention, one mention of the Clone Wars. One person says one sentence about the Clone Wars, and then now, and then look what they did. They created a whole series and it’s got all these characters.

So for the most Part, Star Wars, George Lucas and the other story developers, have done this great job of taking all these offshoot stories and creating whole universes around them. And so this is something that I worked on very heavily actually with my young adult Adventure fantasy, Henrietta The Dragon Slayer series that I’m making a movie based on her continuing adventures.

But at the start of every single chapter, I have like here, I just opened randomly to chapter 15. I quote from two traders, people who trade overheard at the inn. So, embedded in this, sometimes songs, sometimes it’s poetry, sometimes it’s a little folklore. Sometimes it’s like a, here’s a report that was sealed. A sealed report, a song about Henrietta. Of course there’s song sung about her. Of course, she’s the hero.

RANDY LUBIN: And so I’m playing with all this lore that lives in that world that she knows and other people know. And sometimes she doesn’t know, but other people know it. And, It’s so much fun. And I play with that even in my science fiction world with news reports and weather reports and secret things and quotes from books that I invent. ‘Cause I’m playing with a new religion, like quotes from that religion and, all these things. So much fun. Yeah. Oh, that’s awesome. That’s great. Yeah.

[06:11] Tips on Designing Games

BETH BARANY: And, so lastly, as we wrap up here, any tips for writers or anyone listening on designing games?

RANDY LUBIN: Yeah, so I’m a big believer that anyone can design a game and, that it’s never been easier to just start and jump in.

There’s a handful of tips I have in general.

The first I’d say is start by remixing something that you like. And there are some games out there that the authors have been explicit in like, Hey, please remix it. I released the original under a creative commons or open license, like you have my blessing. Go for it. But in even beyond that, I think that especially in the more indie game design scene, there’s just a rich culture of taking and remixing mechanics and other things too. I guess a few things to check out if you wanna go in that direction. There’s a game called For the Queen by Alex Roberts that is very simple, but extremely elegant in how it’s designed. At its core is a bunch of prompts.

So game design can really just be something very akin to creative writing. And so in that case, you have to do a little writing in terms of what’s the framing of what are the players doing?

And for the Queen, you’re going on a journey with the queen. All the players are the sort of coterie around the queen as she goes on this potentially fraught journey. And the game’s gonna end when you draw a card somewhere buried in the deck, that is the queen is under attack. Do you defend her? Everything between the beginning and that point is drawing prompt cards that are often very loaded.

It’s like the: Everybody thinks you’re beautiful, but the queen makes you feel ugly. Why? So like really interesting nuanced prompts.

And Alex has been very clear that she’s very happy with people hacking and remixing the game to, to other settings, other types of things you can do with this prompt engine. And so that’s a great place to start.

Likewise there’s a rich tradition of single page or two page RPGs. One I would point to is Lasers and Feelings, where you have two stats, or really one stat, your laser feelings, which is the higher it is, the better you are at laser-y things.

The lower it is, the better you are at feelingsy things. And, and then there’s a little bit of extra stuff on the page around setting up sort of the scenario and the adventure. But that’s it. the whole game just fits on one page.

And that’s another one that is great for hacking and remixing.

There’s dozens if not hundreds of games where people have played with those two stats.

I did one that was like a contemporary or near, near future or sci-fi one, like Hackers and Hustlers spoofing the Bay Area tech culture.

Really, so I’d say a great way to start is like, choose a genre you love, choose a simple game and remix that game to your genre. In writing, it’s good, really good to know. What are the existing tropes.

In games, I think there’s something very similar to improv comedy also, where it’s totally okay to do the obvious thing. In fact, it’s often encouraged and you’re gonna have a really good time. The audience is gonna have a good time, in the case of improv, if you’re just doing the obvious thing.

So in games, embracing like going onto to TV tropes and being like, what are the best tropes I can pull in that are relevant to this genre? And, in that case, these games can really be love letters to the media that you love.

And a way of getting, your yourself and others to play and tell stories of that same kind.

BETH BARANY: Oh, that’s fabulous. So, we’ll put ’em in the show notes so folks can just grab it.

And you’re really inspiring me to create a resource that is easy to just grab and use because what’s so great about this is it gives people starting points so they can just go off and start working on their stories.

[09:07] How can games help us create equitable and prosperous futures?

BETH BARANY: And in terms of those of us who care about the future and shaping the future into a more, I’m gonna just say it, equitable and prosperous future for everybody and everything on this planet, all living creatures, how can games help us step into what some people might think is Pollyanna-ish?

‘Cause there’s so much doom and gloom, so much doomsday.

People have an easier time generally writing, dystopians than writing anything like a Thrutopia, which might be like exploring how we get from here to there.

BETH BARANY: How can games help us in this area? How can we use a frame? How do we set up a frame for that kind of scenario creating?

RANDY LUBIN: Totally. At the top of the show you talked about your love for optimistic features too. So games again are so great at exploring this ’cause you as game designer can set the constraints and set in the scaffolding for it.

So if you know you don’t want the game to go or fully explore like a doom and gloom scenario, you can just bake into to some of the core conceit of the games from the core framing, the positive aspects, the utopia end goal, or perhaps the mixed positives and negatives. And that’s planted in there.

Everything else is up for grabs and the players can figure that out. And, through the mechanics, through the procedure as you’re going through the play, through the game, it could be about whether it’s further building out the world to justify: Okay,thi things are dire. We know that there’s a lot that needs to be worked on, but hey,we’re imagining these positive futures.

The humans are so good at justifying, rationalizing, filling in the blanks using like apoenia to pattern match. and so by putting again, those initial stakes into the ground of Hey, this stuff is good. Or we know this bad stuff that could happen isn’t gonna happen, then players will do naturally do a good job of saying, okay, cool. What else must be true? And start working backwards from there, start filling in the gaps.

BETH BARANY: I love that question.

What else must be true?

That’s very much akin to helping excavate belief patterns. If we had more efficient solar panels that we could put on every building in San Francisco, then what would that mean?

I often think about how every building in San Francisco could be generating its own energy if it captured wind and solar and actually mini water turbines too. Like with all this rain, why don’t we have these mini- turbines functioning? Every single building could be capturing its water and using water flowing down the sides of the buildings to generate its own electricity.

What would it be like if every building, and I live in an apartment building, if our apartment building was self-generating by wind and sun and water and temperature differentials?

We get a lot of good temperature differentials here in the Bay Area. And then what would that be like?

How would that affect the transportation system? Even if every vehicle could be grabbing energy from the environment and using it to power. I don’t know. Yeah.

RANDY LUBIN: Totally. A different way of framing that same question. And we’ve used this a little bit in some of our games is: What is currently scarce that could be abundant?

And what is currently abundant that might end up being scarce? And then asking the, okay, because of that then what are the consequences?

What’s the first order effect, second order effect of that?

Or likewise what needs to be true for that to happen?

What are different paths to whatever the thing is, whether it’s power, water, whatever, becoming abundant?

And always there’s the questions like, what are the negative externalities?

Or, what are the parasites that might emerge to take advantage of that in a bad way?

So like you could tell a story about, let’s say, okay, San Francisco is carpeted and solar panels. Do you end up having a weird situation where you get a bunch of folks running like crypto mining rigs off of abundant free power and suddenly drawing down from the grid? Okay then what’s the countervailing pressure against that too?

And yeah, so I think that the scarcity and abundance and then just continuing to ask, Okay, and then What’s the next order of effect? Or what’s the next domino that falls?

BETH BARANY: That’s great. I love it. I love it. And I think as a story writer, this is often, we’re often doing this.

And then what? And then what?

And I know for me what I’m working on, especially at the beginning of creating a story I’m asking, because stories have to have escalating conflict, I ask:

What is the worst thing that could happen now to my dear lovely character?

And now what?

What’s worse than that?

And what’s worse than that?

RANDY LUBIN: And that’s how, actually how I build my plot. Oh, that’s great.

I love it. There’s a game, that recently released called The Zone by Raf d Miko. And, one of the moves in the game, one of the things that can happen in the game, is that- So something bad’s gonna happen and you ask the player, whose character it’s gonna happen to, what do they fear it’s gonna be?

And they say what they think it’s gonna be, and then the person who’s asking says, okay, it’s worse. And you one up it. You Yes-And it right there, it’s just oh, yeah. Yeah. They’ve already thought of the worst thing it could be, and now you have to figure out Okay, it’s even more, more intense, more whatever it might be. Yeah.

BETH BARANY: Great for storytelling. So Wonderful. So Randy, how can people find you and get in touch with you?

RANDY LUBIN: So I’m on all the socials. I’m, not the only Randy Lubin out there, but if you look for Randy Lubin, you should be able to find me. My serious games you can find at leveragedplay.com.

If you’re interested in getting into the intersection of foresight and games, I also manage a community called Foresight Games. You can go to foresight.games. We’d love to have you join, even if you’re just curious, please join us. And then on the consumer game side, you can go to diegeticgames.com. And, a handful of my games are available for free and even the ones that are paid usually have community copies for the digital version. So don’t let price be an obstacle. There’s unlimited copies. You’re not taking it outta somebody else’s hand. Go check it out if that excites you.

BETH BARANY: That’s so great. I love all your energy, enthusiasm and all these tools. Just so useful, so accessible. So I just wanna thank you so much, Randy, for being a guest here.

I wanna have you back at some future point. We can maybe make a game together. That would be fun. And just demo that for folks. I think that would be so amazing. And I’ll have to bring in actually my husband too, because he actually makes games. He’s a high school teacher. He makes games for them.

On our very first Valentine’s Day date, he made a game for me with puzzles that I had to solve to go around the house, to find this pretty little heart crystal and a glass of water. That was the end point. It was so sweet and so fun. Sometimes I say, will you make a little puzzle or game for me as a gift? ’cause just enjoy them so much.

That is so sweet. That’s amazing. I love it. Thank you again, Randy, and I look forward to talking with you again.

RANDY LUBIN: Thanks for having me on the show.. It’s been a pleasure.

[15:11] Wrap up of part 2

BETH BARANY: Hey everyone. Thanks for listening to my interview with Randy Lubin.

Please Like and Subscribe to wherever you listen and get this podcast. And also please share this with someone you think would really be excited to hear.

In the show notes are links to all the games that Randy and I discussed, as well as a link for you to sign up for our World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers that I have for listeners of this podcast.

Also I mentioned in this interview the film I’m making. So there’s a link in the show notes also where you can find out more about the state of my film that is based on my heroine, and her friends based on my trilogy, Henrietta The Dragon Slayer. So check that out if you’re curious.

All right.

That’s all, everyone. That’s it for this week.

Write long and prosper.

***Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061

Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.

ABOUT BETH BARANY

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

C 2024 BETH BARANY

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

The post Using Games to Design our Futures with Randy Lubin, part 2 appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

Diary of a Lesbian Housewyfe: Delightful Stories, Yummy Recipes & Gay Household Hints by LA Bourgeois

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Published on September 30, 2024 01:15

September 27, 2024

Q&A with LA Bourgeois

Please welcome LA Bourgeois to our Featured Author Q&A series at Writer’s Fun Zone. Enjoy!

LA is also a regular columnist with Writer’s Fun Zone.

***

If you’d like to be considered for an interview, check out our guidelines here.

***

About LA Bourgeois

LA Bourgeois writes for the Writers Fun Zone as well as telling her tales in Diary of a Lesbian Housewyfe. She strives to be that heartfelt humorist who sits down for a chit-chat and makes you spit your tea across the tablecloth. Follow her for creativity and writing tips, and delightful stories for a queer-curious world.

On to Our Interview!

Q. Tell us who you are and what inspires you to write.

A. I’m LA Bourgeois, writer, coach, and the Lesbian Housewyfe. While my work often finds inspiration in the familiar, curiosity leads me into a wilderness filled with humor and the oddness of life. In general, my drive to create art inspires my writing action each day. Whenever I think of getting creative, I reach for a pen.

Q. How did you get to this place in your life? Share your story!

A. During the pandemic, I transitioned to freelance work and, along with the writing, I became a Kaizen-Muse Certified Creativity Coach. Then, in 2022, my mother died and I entered menopause. Talk about transitioning into your Crone years! Those events inspired me to stop waiting for other people to make my dreams happen. Thus, I began self-publishing my books (yes, there are more in this old head of mine) and promoting my Diary of a Lesbian Housewyfe column/newsletter.

Q. What are you most passionate about?

A. My mission on this planet is to delight and empower people to create joyfully.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process, routine, and/or rituals around your writing?

A. I am very ritualized around my writing. Each day (except Sunday) begins with yoga, a cup of tea, and ten pages of a craft book (writing or creativity). A few minutes of journaling/morning pages and I jump into my writing. The majority of that work happens in the morning and I spend the afternoon responding to emails, marketing, and doing client work.

Q. What are a few challenges you faced in creating, marketing, or publishing your creative work? And your solutions to them.

A. Overall, making the time and space in my life to actually do the work of self-publishing was difficult for me. I ended up marking off a month where I put all of my extra energy into that process and that worked great.

The cover was my biggest challenge. I’m a word person, and images aren’t a strong part of my skill set. However, I did have an old piece of art (that I made) that I wanted to use. I cobbled together a cover for this first book, but in the future, I plan to work with a cover designer.

Finding the right tools was also a challenge. While Scrivener is my go-to word processing program, it’s not very user-friendly in terms of formatting a book. Atticus does that for me, and I’m very pleased with how my book looks, both in electronic and paperback.

Q. What do you wish you had known before you started writing fiction?

A. I can’t think of anything. Really, I didn’t have a choice. Writing is something non-negotiable for me. Even if I’d never decided to write for a living, I would still be writing.

Q. What’s next for you in your creative work?

A. I have another essay collection going through its final edit, and a Christmas ghost story that I’ll be releasing after Thanksgiving for my Diary of a Lesbian Housewyfe readers. I’m also working on a book that describes how my creativity coaching tools helped me survive the transitions of the past few years.

Q. Is there anything else you wished I’d asked? Please share!

A. Along with the coaching and writing, I’m also working as a developmental editor. That work is a wonderful creative outlet as well!

This delightfully funny collection of essays includes recipes and household hints from the first twenty years of marriage for LA Bourgeois, Lesbian Housewyfe. Here you’ll find

Stories of life and love with great advice like “have sex while your parents are in the house,” “coming out to the grocery bagger isn’t necessary,” and “adopt an organic lifestyle to avoid mowing.”

Recipes including her famous “You Can’t Make Me” Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie – Guaranteed to keep you off the softball team!

Tips like how to groom your best friend’s dog and keep the seasoning on your cast-iron skillet.

Connect with LA Bourgeois

Subscribe to LA’s Diary of a Lesbian Housewyfe on Substack.

Did you know that LA helps writers? Check out her creativity coach tips on Substack.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/housewyfe/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/la-bourgeois-16b7542b/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lahousewyfe

The post Q&A with LA Bourgeois appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on September 27, 2024 03:00

September 24, 2024

5 Clauses to Look for in a Publishing Contract by Kelley Way

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Kelley Way as she shares with us “5 Clauses to Look for in a Publishing Contract.” Enjoy!

***

You have a contract from a publisher — congratulations!

It’s extremely tempting to just sign your name and send it back immediately, but before you do that, it’s essential to read the contract and know what you’re signing first.

Many of my author clients have come to me because they’re unhappy with their contract, and once it’s signed, your options can be very limited.

So here are clauses in a publishing contract to look out for when you’re reading a contract.

(Note: every contract is a little different, so these provisions may be called by different names or appear in a different order.)

1. Grant of Rights.

This is, in many ways, the heart of the contract. It lays out what rights you are giving the publisher over your work.

Generally, the bigger the publisher, the more rights they will ask for.

So you could grant the publisher as little as the right to print your book in English in North America for the next five years or as much as all your copyright rights worldwide for the entire duration of your copyright.

Read this clause carefully to know how much you’re giving, and make sure you’re comfortable with it.

2. Royalties.

This one is fairly obvious, but I would be remiss if I didn’t include it. Check to see how much they’re paying you and how frequently they pay.

A few notes:

Check to see if they’re giving percentages based on “suggested retail price” or “net sales receipts.” The suggested retail price would give you more money per book, but the publisher may lower the royalty rate if you ask to switch.Look to see if there’s an “audit clause” — this would give you the ability to audit the publisher to make sure they’re paying you the right amount.Keep in mind that a bigger advance often means a lower royalty rate.3. Termination clause.

This is the clause that many authors wished they had in their contracts.

You want to make sure there’s a way to end this relationship if you’re unhappy with your publisher.

Many contracts only have an “out of print” clause, stating that you get your rights back when the book goes out of print.

But with print on demand, publishers can keep the book “in print” forever.

So you want to either have a way you can terminate the contract on your end or define “out of print,” so it actually has a chance of happening.

4. Dispute Resolution.

Another important clause is the “dispute resolution” clause.

Basically, it lays out how things get resolved when you and your publisher have a fight you can’t figure out on your own.

It states where a trial would be held and if you have to try a different method before you go to court (usually you do; no one likes court except the lawyers).

The two most common alternatives are arbitration (a simplified trial) or mediation (the parties sit with a mediator and try to work things out like adults).

5. Subsidiary Rights.

You may only see this with larger publishers, but it’s still an important clause if it’s there.

This clause lays out whether the publisher has a right to pursue movie deals or other works based on your books and how royalties would be split between you.

If you have questions about these clauses or you would like some help reviewing your publishing contract, please feel free to email me at kaway@kawaylaw.com.

***

Want to read more articles like this one Writer’s Fun Zone? Subscribe here.

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelley Way was born and raised in Walnut Creek, California. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.A. in English, followed by a Juris Doctorate. Kelley is a member of the California Bar, and an aspiring writer of young adult fantasy novels. More information at kawaylaw.com.

The post 5 Clauses to Look for in a Publishing Contract by Kelley Way appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

X: https://twitter.com/randylubin

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Published on September 24, 2024 03:00

September 23, 2024

Using Games to Design our Futures with Randy Lubin, part 1

Using Games to Design our Futures with Randy Lubin, part 1 – How To Write the Future podcast episode 119

“I think games are excellent at building intuition for complex systems, and if you’re trying to think through the future, trying to get a grasp of the system dynamics and second order effects and points of leverage are all super helpful.” – Randy Lubin

In this episode of How To Write the Future podcast, host Beth Barany interviews game designer and entrepreneur, Randy Lubin. They discuss how games can be used as powerful tools for shaping the future and how world building games help you write stories.

RESOURCES

Randy Lubin’s game: Premise: Setting, Character, Plot: https://randylubin.itch.io/premise-setting-character-plot

Dialect by Thorny Games: https://thornygames.com/pages/dialect

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story: https://www.superstory.works/ourbooks

School of International Futures (SOIF): https://soif.org.uk/retreat/soif-summer-foresight-retreat/

Association of Professional Futurists latest COMPASS magazine: https://www.apf.org/apf-resources/compass

Get your free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, A short film (We’re in post-production and fundraising!) https://author.bethbarany.com/henrietta-short-film/

ABOUT RANDY LUBIN

Website: https://randylubin.com/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randylubin/

Foresight games studio: https://leveragedplay.com/ Consumer storytelling games: https://diegeticgames.com/ Blog post on integrating foresight games into creative writing:

https://blog.randylubin.com/foresight-workshop-games-creative-writing

About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Transcript for episode 119, Using Games to Design our Futures with Randy Lubin, part 1

Just a little shout out before I get started with our interview, I want to share that I met Randy in an online networking, gathering hosted by the School of International Futures. Both of us have, are connected to that organization. And then I also found out while I was talking with Randy that his organization has won an award for one of its games.

And, they were awarded that award from the Association of Professional Futurists, APF. And I’m also associated with them and have written for their quarterly magazine Compass.

So it’s so fun that Randy and I know each other through SOIF, School of International Futures. And then we’re also both connected via Association of Professional Futurists.

So a plug for networking.

Alright on to the rest of the show.

This podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive, optimistic futures because I believe that what we put into our stories actually influences humanity.

BETH BARANY: And I also know this podcast is for anyone who cares about the future. And so I’m very excited to have a special guest with me today. a futurist, a game designer. And someone also in the San Francisco Bay Area. So welcome, Randy. So glad that you’re here.

RANDY LUBIN: Thanks so much for having me on the show.

BETH BARANY: So cool. So I’m gonna introduce you. I’m gonna read your bio to everybody and then we’ll dive into your fabulous questions. So, introducing Randy.

[00:01:43] Introducing Randy Lubin

BETH BARANY: Randy Lubin is a game designer and entrepreneur. He makes foresight games that help organizations explore the future via his studio, Leveraged Play. He also makes lighter consumer storytelling games via Diegetic Games.

Did I say that right?

RANDY LUBIN: That’s right.

BETH BARANY: Awesome. Great. so cool.

We have a group of questions here, but I would love if you could tell our audience what is foresight?

[00:02:09] What is “foresight”?

RANDY LUBIN: Yeah. So foresight is a very broadly, is a field about exploring possible futures. And there’s a lot of different tools, kits and approaches, but it’s really about exploring what are different possible features and what might the implications of that be on our current plans and aspirations as individuals or as organizations.

BETH BARANY: Perfect. I love it. I think that’s really helpful.

I’m excited to dive in and I just have to say I love, love your focus on games and play.

It’s a big part of how I work and as a writer and also how I help writers. So tell us how can games help us explore the future?

RANDY LUBIN: I think there’s a number of ways that are all very exciting, but suited to different specific goals around exploring the future.

So I think games are excellent at building intuition for complex systems, and if you’re trying to think through the future, trying to get a grasp of the system dynamics and second order effects and points of leverage are all super helpful, especially as you-.

Since most things you might try and accomplish when it comes to the future or ways you might wanna shape the future are gonna have knock-on effects. And so having that full picture, that rich picture is very helpful, whether you’re making plans for an organization or doing world building for a book or a film.

And so I think when you’re in a game where there’s some game state and some game mechanics and players are making decisions and then those decisions are having con consequences, that’s really great for having a quick feedback loop for the player to start building intuition around that complex system.

I take action A. I see immediate effect B, and knock on effects: X, Y, and Z.

And so I think that’s one, one class of how games can be really helpful.

I think there’s another that’s about building empathy, for situations that you’re not likely to be in or people that are very different from you.

And games are so good at casting people into roles and then living out those roles, making hard choices in those roles that you can really come out of an experience, at least having a bit better of an experience than what you, a sense then when you went in about what might be going on in the mind of those people.

What might their incentives be?

How might that feel?

BETH BARANY: I love that. And with games, I just think about some of the games I played as a kid: Risk, the board game Risk, and how all of a sudden you’re not a person, you’re a country and you have objectives that you’ve never experienced before. I remember playing that game and it is a war game, but feeling like the intensity of that and the bigness of that, I had never put myself in the position of thinking of myself as a territory or a country, or a region.

So that’s just one, one idea for my own childhood.

[00:04:36] What kinds of games do you present to organizations?

BETH BARANY: Can you get a little more specific? If you are working with an organization, what kind of games are you presenting to them to play?

RANDY LUBIN: There’s a couple different sort of spectrum on which I can talk about that.

So in terms of the type of game, just to get it real grounded for a second, it could be anything from something that’s done as an exercise in a workshop, in person, or over zoom.

In person, you might have people running around wheeling and dealing or maybe brainstorming. Some of the games are a little bit more of a writer’s room vibe.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have digital games that we’ve made that are playable in a browser.

And or can be played as a group where you’re discussing what to do next or just single player.

And so my personal practice and work have really spanned a whole spectrum, but even the in-person games, there’s many different types. As I said, there’s negotiation games, which we run games with 50 people who are broken down into 14 different teams trying to- all trying to shape the future to their, their stated aims and goals. And then we’ve also done very, much more intimate games, trying to understand complexities and nuances around a topic like the future of trust and safety and content moderation. And that might just be a small group of three to five people trying to make some very hard decisions together.

[00:05:45] Games vs. Exercises

BETH BARANY: Wow. And what’s the difference in framing something as a game versus let’s do this exercise? What’s special about that in your opinion?

RANDY LUBIN: Yeah, so first off, it’s very much a spectrum. And the way I think about it is when I start an engagement with clients, I bring a whole toolkit of game, gameful approaches,and different takeaways and affordances from games.

And sometimes where we end up based on the goals and objectives of the client, we end up something that looks very legibly like a game.

And sometimes it’s a workshop that’s been informed by good practices from a game. so that being said, it’s really all about exploring, working from what the client needs outta the project and coming backward.

Yeah. So some clients come in and they go, we love games.

We wanna do something really playful because we know that’s gonna elicit the thing that we want from our participants. Whether they’re internal to the organization or external stakeholders, we want something playful. ’cause that’s gonna get- There might be a few benefits to it.

One, it might mean that folks are willing to drop some of their preconceptions and biases, especially if we’re casting them in a role that isn’t their normal day job.

That’s something that we’ve used before with experts where sometimes experts come in, they go, oh, we know exactly how this is gonna play out. And then we put them in a game, we put ’em in a slightly different role than their normal role. and we’ve dramatically expanded the possibility space of now suddenly what they’re willing to entertain in terms of possible futures.

[00:06:58] Approachable

RANDY LUBIN: Separately, framing things as a game can make it much more approachable for folks who may not typically be engaged as like a expert on the subject matter, but by putting them in a player role,and your character role in the game and just saying:

Hey, here’s your objectives. Here’s some of the leverage you can pull to accomplish those objectives. Go.

They’re much more empowered to share their thoughts and opinions.

And so we did one engagement where we’re looking at the future, potential futures around an upcoming election in a government situation where it was a fragile democracy. It was like a one party state situation, and we were trying to see how much space and what were the threats and opportunities to expand civic space a little bit.

So we had two groups of players play it. We had a group that were civil servants and we had a group that were youths, local youths. And by, by framing a little bit as a game, we were hoping that people were gonna be a little more comfortable, a little more at ease and playing it. And also happy to to share their thoughts and be a maybe a little more provocative in what they were gonna say.

So that’s one example. But it’s funny.

There’s certain engagements where we go in and say, we love the idea of having a game. We cannot use the word game. It’s gonna scare off our executives or our stakeholders or whatever. And we’re like, oh, hey, no problem. This is a, this is an exercise, it’s a workshop.

We, we won’t use the G word. We won’t call it a game.

BETH BARANY: Yeah, I was curious about that. and I love how you’re saying how by, by in some instances as framing it as a game, people are willing to take more risks, willing to step into perspectives that are unfamiliar and also willing to share their opinions. and that’s so cool. I really love that.

[00:08:23] Using Games to Build Setting

Let’s dive into something that’s probably more applicable to our audience about how can we use games to build out a setting, especially some kind of futuristic one or set in some version of the future. But of course, it can be used to create fantastical settings as well.

BETH BARANY: Yeah, how can we use games for that?

RANDY LUBIN: So, there are myriad ways to use games.

If there’s one big takeaway from this part of our conversation, it’s just that pick games that you’re familiar with, pick games you’re excited about, and just start applying them to your world.

There’s some that I can specifically recommend. There’s a whole family of storytelling games called World Building Games.

One of the first storytelling games I ever played was a game called Microscope by Ben Robbins.

And in that one, there’s a fairly simple procedure, but rich procedure for fractally building out a world through its timeline.

And so you start knowing the beginning of a timeline and the end of a timeline, you can fill in the big, high level, like what are the errors of this timeline? And take turns doing that. But you can also go deeper. You say, okay, within this era, what are some of the key events? And even play out scenes within those events.

So there’s a whole families of, game design out there, of world building games that I highly recommend looking into. I’ve designed some myself,and I’ve used some with Sci-fi writing workshops actually, where we play the game in the first half of the workshop. And then we all go off and write short stories in the second half.

That game is Premise, which it’s available online. Maybe there’ll be a link in the show notes. There’s also free copies for anyone who, for whom paying would be a hardship. Don’t feel bad about grabbing free copies. There’s unlimited free copies ’cause it’s the internet.

BETH BARANY: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. We’ll, we’ll definitely include that in our show notes.

And, so I love this. What you’re talking about- like a fractal. Yeah. So is that meaning. You picked like the big signposts or the big milestones in a timeline of a story world and then you fill in the, in-between parts, is that what

RANDY LUBIN: Exactly. So microscope in that game in particular, yeah.

You are zooming in and zooming out and and each round, you rotate who gets to pick the theme for that round. And then no matter what you’re doing, you can engage with things on those themes. And those could be within a narrow time period or jumping across time periods. it’s really just a great way of quickly, really quickly generating a ton of interesting content and ideas that are all bouncing off of each other.

[00:10:26] A Game about generating language

RANDY LUBIN: I just to throw out a couple more. There’s another world building game I love, called Dialect by Thorny Games, which is a game about generating language. It’s really about how languages grow and die through the ones of community.

So you’re creating a bunch of new words and phrases and seeing how they’re used by a community that’s changing and evolving.

BETH BARANY: I love that. We’ll definitely have to include a link to that as well. I know when I work on my stories, I’m intuitively pulling words from other languages that I’m familiar with, that I’ve had exposure with.

I speak French, so I’ll pull from French. Or I’ve been to North Africa, so in one of my stories I pulled customs and clothing and words. and then I’m also pulling folklore from all the bank of folklore that I’ve been reading since I was a child and exposure to in the world. And then I help my clients.

I help them like access their interests and their modalities and the things. And I just ask them to come up with words, come up with rituals, come up with the system of education, whatever’s relevant to their story. So this is really great and I would love to be able to have access to these games too, for my clients because they’re, and students and everybody, because it’s already how creatives are thinking. But these gives us some rubrics, some processes.

RANDY LUBIN: Totally. Much, much more approachable than having a blank canvas, right?

Saying: okay, cool. We’re gonna start with thinking about timeline or thinking about language and using that as one of the trailheads for building and exploring a world. I think super, super powerful.

[00:11:55] Using Dungeons and Dragons to build out your story

RANDY LUBIN: And I’ll also throw out there for folks who are excited or into more traditional types of storytelling games of the Dungeons and Dragons type, you can totally use that too to build it out.

I’ve heard of many authors using that as part of their practice. I believe The Expanse, books and the TV show, started as a role playing game. I think. both George R. R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss are both on the record of saying that they’ve played with ideas that have become books or short stories ’cause they started out at something at the table. Or they’ll bring something to the table as game runners and see how the players react and incorporate that back in. So there’s just so many rich ways of involving games in a writing practice.

[00:12:27] Wrap up of part 1

BETH BARANY: Hey everyone. Thanks for listening to my interview with Randy Lubin.

Please Like and Subscribe to wherever you listen and get this podcast. And also please share this with someone you think would really be excited to hear it.

In the show notes are links to all the games that Randy and I discussed, as well as a link for you to sign up for our World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers that I have for listeners of this podcast.

Also I mentioned in this interview the film I’m making. So there’s a link in the show notes also, where you can find out more about the state of my film that is based on my heroine, and her friends based on my trilogy, Henrietta The Dragon Slayer. So check that out if you’re curious.

All right.

That’s all, everyone. That’s it for this week

Write long and prosper.

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ABOUT BETH BARANY

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

CREDITS [H2]EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

C 2024 BETH BARANY

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Published on September 23, 2024 00:10

September 20, 2024

Crafting a Killer: Motivation Matters by Laurel Osterkamp

Let’s welcome back Laurel Osterkamp as she shares with us “Crafting a Killer: Motivation Matters.” Enjoy!

***

The other day I Googled, “Best way to poison someone.”

Instantly, I wondered what damage I’d done to my digital footprint. Will whoever’s in charge of the internet think I’m a killer? Will they understand that while I’d never murder anyone, I can’t say the same for all of the characters I craft?

But that’s where the real problem comes in.

Truth is, I don’t have a ton of experience crafting killers. But my current WIP requires me to make at least one of my main characters a murderer. How do I figure out their identity and motivation? Why are they committing such dastardly deeds? (Hint: The answer cannot simply be because they’re insane, evil, or evil and insane.)

So, how do you create a villain that’s believable? Here’s how I plan to go about it. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately for my search history) it’s not something I can Google.

The Steps to Create a Believable Villain

First, I’ll delve into the depths of the villain’s past. A believable villain isn’t born from the ether, sprung fully-formed with an intent to do harm. No, they are a product of their circumstances, sculpted by the rough hands of life.

For instance, consider the notorious Hannibal Lecter. Hannibal did not take pleasure in savagery for savagery’s sake; his past held dark secrets that steered him towards his monstrous path. There was a reason, a root cause — albeit disturbing — that gave birth to the villain he became and his taste for human flesh.

Secondly, I’ll give my villain human traits. Despite their evil deeds, they must bear qualities that we can empathize with or relate to. In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Voldemort is not a symbol of unadulterated evil without any redeeming qualities. He is shown as a profoundly lonely individual who fears death above all things. His fear of death makes him human, even if his actions are undoubtedly monstrous.

Third, my villain will follow a unique set of rules and codes that they won’t break for anything. These rules help add depth to their character and make them predictable in their unpredictability. The Joker from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy serves as an excellent example here. This agent of chaos lived by his principle of upending societal order; it was not personal vendetta but an anarchic worldview that drove him.

Fourth, my villains should be intelligent and cunning — two steps ahead of the protagonist always! Take Amy Dunne from Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl as the perfect embodiment of this trait. Precise and meticulous in her manipulation, she is always one step ahead not only of her husband Nick but also the audience, making her a highly engaging and believable antagonist.

Finally–and perhaps most importantly–I’ll remember that no villain believes themselves to be evil; they think they’re the hero of their own story, fighting for what they perceive is right. Take Thanos from Marvel’s Infinity War. He genuinely believes in his cause of balancing the universe, even if it means half of its population must die. To him, he is not the villain but a necessary force of change.

Bringing It All Together

By weaving these essential elements together — a troubled past, humanizing traits, personal code, intelligence, and self-justification — you create a villain that does more than just carry out evil deeds. This villain becomes a fully-fledged character, as alive and psychologically complex as your protagonist. A believable villain can transform a simple story into an intriguing battle of philosophies and wits, keeping your readers hooked till the very last page.

***

About the Author

Laurel Osterkamp is from Minneapolis, where she teaches and writes like it’s going out of style.

She’s lost count of her novels, and her short fiction has been featured in Abandon Journal, Idle Ink, Tangled Locks Literary Journal, Bright Flash Literary Journal, and The Metawoker, among other places. Her newest novel, The Side Project, will be released in November by The Wild Rose Press. Ramona Quimby is her spirit animal.

Social Media:

Website – https://laurellit.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authorlaurelosterkamp
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/laurel-osterkamp
Instagram: Laurel Osterkamp (@laurel_osterkamp) • Instagram photos and videos

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