Danielle Thamasa's Blog, page 24

Tabletop Tuesday: Unstable Unicorns

Hey all, Sam and David here today.

Welcome back to Tabletop Tuesday; we have missed you! So, some of you might have noticed that last week we had a Video Game review on Tuesday instead of a Tabletop review/discussion. That was purely my (Sam’s) fault. Our work and sleep schedules were thrown out of whack a bit and I didn’t even realize that we missed our usual post until like 8pm on Tuesday. Thankfully, David jumped in and wrote up his thoughts on Diablo IV so far.

I didn’t get distracted and forgetful this week though, so we do have another Tabletop Card Game to talk about with you today. We’re getting really excited because we’re just a few weeks away from Gen Con now. We have our badges, I have my tickets to a bunch of panels I plan to go to, our hotel is all booked, and we’re starting to look at vendors and figure out which booths we absolutely *have* to visit. Don’t worry, we’ll have a Gen Con Plans post up in a couple weeks so we can talk about everything.

Obviously, since we’re getting in a Gen Con mood, we’re definitely in the mood to talk about all kinds of Tabletop Games as well…board games, card games, dice games, and TTRPGs…it’s all fair game here on Tabletop Tuesday. Some weeks we’ll sort of review a game that we’ve played, and other weeks we’ll talk about gaming accessories that have been useful for leveling up our gaming experience.

Let’s jump into today’s game!

Build a Unicorn Army. Betray Your Friends. Unicorns are Your Friends Now.Unstable Unicorns is a strategic card game that will destroy your friendships but in a good way.The game was one of Kickstarter’s top 100 most backed projects of all time and has sold over a million copies worldwide.Unstable Unicorns won the 2019 People’s Choice Award for Toy of the Year.

Build a Unicorn Army. Betray your friends. Unicorns are your friends now.

Unstable Unicorns is a strategic card game about everyone’s two favorite things: Destruction & Unicorns. The goal of Unstable Unicorns is to be the first person to collect seven Unicorns in your play area, also known as your Stable. Use Magic, Instant, Upgrade, and Downgrade cards to hinder your opponents’ progress and destroy their Unicorns. But beware — each player has all of these tools at their disposal as well, and you may just find your plans foiled by a well-played “Neigh!” card. Get ready to destroy your friendships…but in a good way.

In 2017, Unstable Unicorns became one of the top 100 most backed Kickstarter projects of all time, and in 2019, the game won the People’s Choice Award for Toy of the Year. We are super proud to have created a game that allows people to share meaningful experiences while actively working to screw each other over.

Build a Unicorn Army

The goal of Unstable Unicorns is simple: be the first player to collect 7 Unicorns. Where things get tricky is when you realize your opponents are trying to do the same thing while working to destroy you.

Play Upgrades and Downgrades

You can also play Upgrade cards to beef up your defenses against your opponents, and you can play Downgrade cards to halt their progress (and probably infuriate them).

Use Your Magic

Your magic cards have powerful one-time use effects that can help tip the odds in your favor. Some give you benefits like extra cards, while others are utterly destructive to other players.

Stop Other Players With a Neigh!

Not so fast! Neigh cards can be played instantly to prevent someone else from playing a card. Keep these tucked up your sleeve until the perfect opportunity to foil your opponents!

Our Thoughts

We’ve played this game quite a few times now, and it is great. We do recommend playing this with at least 4 players. Yes, the rules say you can play with 2-8, but with two people it limits your options for targeting with Downgrades and Neighs, and so it’s not as much fun (we also recommend this for games like Munchkin, because any game that has backstabbing as a game mechanic needs to be played with more than two people, even when the rules say you can play with two).

The artwork is adorable, as is expected from Unstable Games. You may recognize the artwork from TeeTurtle shirts, and that’s because it’s the same company. The both of us have a large number of TeeTurtle shirts but only two of their games so far (Unstable Unicorns and Happy Little Dinosaurs)…we need to get the others (Casting Shadows, Tic Tac K.O., Here to Slay, and Wrong Party). Perhaps that will be something to look into at Gen Con.

These games are all pretty easy to play, and mostly involve each player trying to help themselves get closer to victory while making things harder for their opponents.

So obviously, if you’re playing a game like this, you need to make sure you’re playing with the right group of people…if someone is going to get worked up and upset because someone else played a downgrade on them that messed up their plans and such….either this game isn’t right for them, or they need to not get so worked up about things.

When you’re with the right gaming group, then even losing can be a fun experience. It’s really fun to have someone setting up this really epic play that’s going to seriously benefit them and then tossing down a “Neigh!” card to stop it. Honestly, it’s pretty much always hilarious (although maybe not for the person being Neighed).

Oh, and as can be seen in the image above, there are expansions for this game that give more unicorns, more upgrades and downgrades, and more magic to make the game even more ridiculous and fun.

Also, we should point out that there actually is a NSFW edition, for those who don’t mind their games being a little more *adult*.

We actually need to play this one again sometime soon; it’s been a little while. But it is a fun game, easy to learn the rules, and easy to just start playing.

Well, that is all from us for today. Thank you so much for stopping by. We appreciate you all so much, and we’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Manga Review: The Dragon Knight’s Beloved Vol 1 by Ritsu Aozaki and Asagi Orikawa

Hey all, Sam here.

Okay, yeah, so when I saved this post, I guess I had saved it as a draft instead of a finished and scheduled post…and then I was tired so I fell asleep for a little while. It is only now, much later than I normally post and near to the end of Manga Monday, that I have realized that the post never went live. So sorry about that.

Welcome back to another Manga Monday, where I talk about a volume of manga I’ve read somewhat recently. Right now I’m in the middle of talking about the manga I read during Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon back in April of 2023…if that gives you any indication of how my blog scheduling sometimes functions. Most book reviews end up being reviewed much closer to when I’ve read them, but since I read a stack of manga in a short period of time and only review one of them each week, so sometimes it takes a while to get around to them.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy reading manga, because I absolutely do. There was even a time when I was posting two reviews each Manga Monday, and who knows, it could progress to that again at some point in the future, but for now, this is how it’s going.

Okay, let’s jump into it.

A young woman begins a new life as a dragon master for a handsome earl in this tale of high fantasy romance.

Melissa is a young woman training to be an attendant in the royal castle, working alongside the heroic dragon knights and their magnificent dragon steeds. The dragons love Melissa, and she’s soon selected to join Hubert–former captain of the dragon knights and newly appointed earl–in the borderlands, where wild dragons roam freely in the skies. Might romance blossom between Melissa and this handsome young lord, whose new position brings with it a whole host of dilemmas?

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

I remember reading this quickly. It was a cute and fun start to a fantasy romance. I liked the general setup.

Melissa is adorable, and I loved how much all of the dragons love her, because she is just so sweet, and she cares for them about as much as the dragon knights do. Hubert is also cute, so good and confident around the dragons, but not so much with other social requirements.

So obviously things happen, and it changes a lot for both Melissa and Hubert, leading to Melissa being brought to the borderlands where wild dragons roam. When they arrive in the borderlands, Hubert who is now the Earl, also finds himself having to fend off the woman who was supposed to wed his brother, and she is awful. The dragons can’t stand her, and that is definitely reason enough to not want her around.

To me, it seems clear that Hubert is starting to really see Melissa in a new light, and the dragons already like this attendant/maid, so…hopefully future volumes give us more interactions between Melissa and Hubert, and hopefully they get rid of the bratty wishes she could marry the Earl lady, because she’s just there to gain power and wealth and clout, and I don’t like her.

The art style in this is very cute, and I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy continuing this series because it seems pretty darn fun and fantastical to me.

All right, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Book Review: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

Hey all, Sam here.

So my planned blog schedule got thrown off course a smidge because I got a change of work schedule starting today/this week PLUS my reading schedule got a little thrown off course by me sort of “accidentally” reading two other books before the book I needed to read because I had planned it for review today. I have almost finished that book, should complete it today, but too late for me to get the review done as well…..so I am pivoting to one of the books that I picked up and obsessively rushed through recently.

I have found myself reading a bit faster than my typical the past several days, and I’ll talk a bit about why when we get to our next WIP Wednesday. But I’m not complaining about an increase in books read…just slightly complaining about it throwing my schedule into chaos. Haha.

All right, let’s go ahead and jump into the review.

All I wanted to do was live my life in peace. Maybe get a cat, expand my spice farm. Really anything that doesn’t involve going on a quest where an orc might rip my face off. But they say the Goddess has favorites. If so, I’m clearly not one of them.

After saving the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, all he wanted to do was kill an evil witch enslaving his people.

I mean, I get it. Don’t get me wrong. But he’s dragging me along for the ride, and I’m kind of peeved about it. On the bright side, he keeps burning off his shirt.

My Thoughts

Rating: 4.5 stars

I have been craving lighter, cozier, fun fantasy reads. And while this one doesn’t truly fit the low-stakes mentality of true Cozy Fantasy, it still has plenty of cozy (yet steamy) moments throughout. And this definitely isn’t low stakes either. The quest to destroy this evil witch who has manipulated and deceived so many for so long is sort of a mid-to-high stakes issue…but the heroes of the story don’t need a whole series to complete their quest, while also finding love along the way.

I ended up reading this so quickly. I had it sitting on my e-reader for months, after searching for more cozy fantasy reads (thanks Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree). The Mead Mishaps series has great reviews, with lots of people enjoying the characters and the adventure of it all.

Sure, yes, it is lighter on detail and worldbuilding compared to a lot of the fantasy reads I normally delve into, but it succeeded in doing what I wanted and what I was hoping for…something fun and entertaining, something that would be a fast and enjoyable read.

It was also a bit steamier than I was initially expecting. I’m not really complaining about that, but I did often find myself reading it at work, so I was trying to refrain from too many outward reactions at the more intimate scenes.

Cinnamon and Fallon were such a fun duo, and I loved that Cin just seemed to keep collecting demons to her adventuring group. It was really cool, and definitely set this up for future stories.

I don’t think it will be long before I jump into the next one. I really had a fun time with this.

—-

That’s all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Weekend Writer: The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass Chapters One and Two

Hey all, Sam here.

Why yes, this weekend we get two Weekend Writer posts…which is something that seems to happen somewhat regularly, but that is totally okay. Some weekends you just need a little extra nudge in the writer portion of a creative life. I certainly know that I need a little extra push, a little more of a boost in the right direction. Between last minute changes in work schedule the past couple days, a full schedule change for next week, and actually being a bit busy at work, which leads to needing extra recovery time at home…I haven’t written the past couple of days…which sucks because it is Camp NaNoWriMo right now.

Hopefully I can get writing and get caught up on my word count. I should have a little bit of time to write Sunday night/all day Monday.

Anyway, today I’m diving into a book that I’ve had on my shelf for something around a year now. The premise of it seems extremely useful, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to get a lot from it. But we’ll see. After the first few chapters, I should have an idea on whether this is going to be a two-month deep dive breakdown, or if it will just be a couple posts general overview. Because, sadly, I do not really read ahead with these creative writing books, so I pick up the book and read the self-scheduled chapter(s) the day of or the day before I write the post up.

All right, let’s get started.

Engage Your Readers with Emotion

While writers might disagree over showing versus telling or plotting versus pantsing, none would argue If you want to write strong fiction, you must make your readers feel. The reader’s experience must be an emotional journey of its own, one as involving as your characters’ struggles, discoveries, and triumphs are for you.

That’s where The Emotional Craft of Fiction comes in. Veteran literary agent and expert fiction instructor Donald Maass shows you how to use story to provoke a visceral and emotional experience in readers. Topics covered

   • emotional modes of writing
   • beyond showing versus telling
   • your story’s emotional world
   • moral stakes
   • connecting the inner and outer journeys
   • plot as emotional opportunities
   • invoking higher emotions, symbols, and emotional language
   • cascading change
   • story as emotional mirror
   • positive spirit and magnanimous writing
   • the hidden current that makes stories move
Readers can simply read a novel…or they can experience it. The Emotional Craft of Fiction shows you how to make that happen.

Chapter One: The Emotional Craft of Fiction

Maass opens this chapter and this book discussing how the world of writing is very much that of opposites, whether the writing intent is commercial or literary, planning or pantsing, leaning into the idea of genre or hating the labeling of genre, whether it’s about money, prestige, creative expression, or a pit stop on the path to movie options.

A dichotomy less often discussed is the division between those who are comfortable writing emotions and those who find putting emotions on the page repellent. The latter group values showing. To get a reader to feel what a character feels, the thinking goes, put the reader through a character’s experience. Provoke emotions in readers; don’t spoon-feed them feelings. Most valuable of all to this group is the capturing of moments. These are passages so honest, vivid, and true that they transcend mere words. Readers recognize the universal human condition.

For other writers, telling is a positive. They go inside the mind and heart of a character to observe and feel story events just as that character does. Writing out characters’ emotions is the essence of intimate storytelling. How else can you bring a character fully alive? For these authors, the highest expression of the art are passages of extended telling, in which a characters’s inward condition is captured in nuanced detail by means of words alone.

pages 1-2

We all know showing versus telling. It is brought up in pretty much every writing lecture or class or discussion. So I’m not going to spend time talking about that right here or now. What I’m hoping this goes into is how to use a blend of showing and telling to get to the emotion of it all.

And…if it isn’t clear by now, often times I write these posts as I’m working my way through the chapter(s), so sometimes I might say something that does get answered later in the post.

The most useful question is not how can I get across what the characters are going through? The better question is how can I get readers to go on emotional journeys of their own?

Page 2

I know when it comes to my books, I am wondering how I can write thoughts and actions and experiences in a way that resonates with both the characters and the readers, so I’m hopeful that this book will help with that. It’s not a super long book, just over 200 pages. But length isn’t always an indication of how useful or good a book is. I’ve read some absolutely incredible shorter reads.

On page 3, Maass points out that why it is important to look at fiction writing through the lens of emotional experience is because that is the way that readers read. It isn’t so much that they are reading, but responding to what you write. Simply by reading your work, their outlook or outrage doesn’t become yours, but the do form their own in response to what your words evoke emotionally in them.

From here Maass goes on to talk about how few books seem to reach that emotional impact for him, and he asks us the reader to think of how many novels have truly moved us, have brought us to tears or rage or feeling that we’re going to live differently, how many stories have marked you in a way that you’ll never forget? Then he goes on to suspect that the number is small and that the choices won’t be current novels but instead will be classics.

I absolutely, whole-heartedly disagree with this statement of belief from Maass. The reason some classics sit with me is sadly because some circumstances just haven’t changed in the 100-200+ years, but they also sit with me because we so often have to read and discuss and break down these novels or stories over and over in different English/Literature courses over our lives.

And I could think of a good number of modern novellas and novels that have brought me to tears or changed my life. If anyone would like to know about those books, I’d be happy to pull together a blog post detailing books that have impacted me over my reading life. Just let me know.

Emotional impact is not an extra. It’s as fundamental to a novel’s purpose and structure as its plot. The emotional craft of fiction underlies the creation of character arcs, plot turns, beginnings, midpoints, endings, and strong scenes. It is the basis of voice.

The emotional craft of fiction can also unlock the power of writing personally, reconnecting you to your story during those chaotic times when your novel falls to pieces and your sense of fun is gone. Emotional craft isn’t a repackaging of old writing bromides. It’s a way of understanding what causes emotional impact on readers and deliberately using those methods. It’s a way to energize your writing with tools that are always available: your own feelings.

Page 4

I can agree with this. I enjoy good plots and worldbuilding, but as long as I connect with the characters and their journey, I can go through a story, even if the rest is lacking. And a lot of that has to do with having an emotional response/connection to the characters. I’m even willing to look over some technical spelling/grammar/writing style issues if the characterization is good.

Chapter Two: Inner Versus Outer

In this chapter, Maass says that there are three primary modes or paths to creating emotional responses in readers. These are: Inner, Outer, and Other. He opens the chapter with a brief introduction to each, but since there is a breakdown of them after the four paragraph intro, I’m just going to hold off on saying more about them until we actually delve into them during the chapter.

Outer Mode: Showing

The choice between inner and outer modes is a central one. Some story types, such as romance fiction, necessarily rely on inner mode. Others, like trillers, either havke not time to dwell on characters’ feelings or their authors regard such passages as artless and possibly repellent.

Writers of women’s fiction are caught in the middle. Given this story type and its audience, you’d think this wouldn’t be much of an issue. In women’s fiction it’s the inner experience of characters that we want to read, right? Changes and growth are the story. A journey of transformation is mostly taken inside, so inner mode would seem to be the default mode of choice.

On the other hand, women’s fiction writers usually hope to do more than entertain. Their fiction may be warm, fun, and loaded with chocolate and recipes, but it’s also serious. It has something to say. It ought to be well written, for how else will you win starred reviews and hope to raise questions for book clubs to discuss? Such artfullness requires showing.

Page 7

In this chapter, Maass also gives us examples of passages from a few different stories, going over how sometimes even just showing what is going on and how the character is acting and reacting, even without probing into their inner thoughts and feelings, can evoke an emotional response in the reader, even if that response is different from how the character is feeling.

To put it simply, when character emotions are highly painful, pull back

One secret ingredient behind effective showing can be summed up in this word: subtext. When there’s a feeling we’re not being told, but it is evident anyway, that underlying feeling is the subtext. It’s the unspoken emotional truth. When we discern it, it’s a surprise.

Page 10

I guess I didn’t even think about how it’s possible to go too far into emotion within a story. I guess I’m so used to there being a little distance or a little dulling of things so it doesn’t overwhelm. Then again, we are also used to the main characters within books being made of stronger stuff than we perceive ourselves or other people around us.

Showing isn’t necessarily limited to external action or dialogue, or that which we can see or hear. Situations and conditions such as a state of being can be presented without emotions and, despite that, cause us to feel quite a bit.

Page 12

There are several more examples from different novels, but you’ll have to read this book to get all of those.

Maass also gives us an inserted block in this section that is titled “Emotional Master 1: Effective Showing.” It includes an exercise into using what we’ve been shown in the writing examples and trying it with your own story. This block is on Page 16, but I’m not going to get into the details here, because while I like doing these deep dives, I don’t want to give away all the secrets of the books, just show off enough to provide context and inspiration. If you want the rest of the information, you’ll need to get the book for yourself.

Inner Mode: Telling

Writing out what characters feel ought to be a shortcut to getting readers to feel that stuff too, shouldn’t it? You’d think so. After all, it’s through characters that we experience a story. Their experience is ours. Actually, the truth is the opposite. Put on the page what a character feels and there’s a pretty good chance that, paradoxically, what the reader will feel is nothing.

Pages 17-18

Again, another interesting point. There is an art to writing out what characters feel in a way that the reader will still feel something, even if it isn’t exactly what the character is experiencing. I mean, I don’t know how many times I’ve been reading the banter between two characters in a romance, and the characters are butting heads because at the time they don’t like each other, and I’m just reading with a big grin on my face, because I can see the sparks flying and the chemistry heating up between them. They’re annoyed, but I’m amused.

Human beings are complex.[…]Our feelings are also communal. We pick up on others. We can project feelings that are mean, selfish, and destructive onto others. We can reserve feelings that are noble, selfless, and bold for ourselves. We laugh at funerals and cry at weddings.

We’re clear. We’re vague. We hate. We love.[…] Our feelings are also dynamic. They change. They can reverse in an instant.

Pages 18-19

Again, Maass provides examples from novels, and again, I will leave those as something to read if you should pick up this book yourself.

On Pages 22-23, we are given the Emotional Mastery 2: Third-Level Emotions inserted block, again with an exercise for you to use for your own writing.

Other Mode

This third method basically becomes sort of a conversation between writer and reader, bypassing the characters entirely since the emotional experience of the reader is not the same as the emotional experience of the character. The Other Mode is not the showing or the telling, but the other things on the page that provoke readers.

Each reader reads under the influence of their own personally held beliefs and biases, likes and dislikes, history and feelings, peeves and current temperament.

Readers want a positive type of experience from their reading, and that is more than just getting a happy ending. It means affirmation, the satisfaction of things turning out the way the reader thinks they should. It means validating their beliefs and morals. But authors also want to challenge readers, and thankfully there are readers out there who wish to be challenged too.

Creating an experience for readers is more than just walking them through the plot. It means giving them something to think on, something that intrigues them, something that excites them, something that surprises them.

Other mode is not a single technique or principle. It is a vast array of elements tuned like the instruments in an orchestra to create a soaring emotional effect. When all the instruments work together, they lift our hearts. They transport us to a realm of wonder. We are open.

Page 26

According to Maass, achieving a strong emotional impact is the goal of the rest of this book, and the answers on how to do it are in the rest of these pages.

All right, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Weekend Writer: July Prompts

Hey all, Sam here.

How have we made it to another Friday already? The time seriously just goes flying by. It’s mind-boggling sometimes. It feels like we’ve been doing so much here on the home front, and so there isn’t as much downtime as we’d like. But David’s getting back into his urge to paint miniatures and stuff again, and my reading drive has come back as strong as it was during my reading and blogging peak a few years ago, so while it has been busy, it has also been fairly fun.

I’m finishing my training for my new job this week and next week will probably be on a different work schedule, so we’ll see what happens with that. We’re really hoping that we’ll get to share at least one day off together. It has actually really sucked having less time together these past few weeks.

Anyway, welcome back to Weekend Writer, a weekly series I host here on Free State of Geek that is fully dedicated to creative writing. On the first Friday of the month (like today), I use several story generator tools to create various creativity prompts for both you and I to use to help kickstart your creative projects (your choice if you want to write something or draw something). Then, on the last Friday of the month, I share snippets of what I’ve been working on over the month…it could be from the prompt generation, or it could be from some other project I’ve been working on…or it could be from both. I’ve had a couple months where I’ve shared a couple passages from different writing projects.

For the rest of the Fridays of the month, I do a deep dive breakdown that focuses on some aspect of creative writing. That has mostly been deep dives into sections of books about the craft of writing, but sometimes might be a deep dive into a lecture or an episode of a podcast or a YouTube video or just a general discussion about some sort of creativity/writing topic.

The past couple months had been focused on Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody, and that was really informative. The book I’m starting tomorrow should also take about two months to get through…but I’m wondering if I should do it all at once, or if I should break it up with some of the information gathered and lessons learned from the Gen Con Writer’s Symposium (which I’m attending August 3rd-6th). If I do it all at once, then I could either do the Writer’s Symposium panels as bonus posts…or start them in September, after I’ve finished with this book.

What do you guys think?

All right, that’s enough dilly-dallying. Let’s jump into the post.

July Prompt Time

All right…I currently have five different creativity generator tools in my collection/arsenal. Some of them are technically aimed at TTRPGs, BUT I’ve found that for the most part they work for creative writing just fine as well, which is why I include them all. With each prompt, I take a photo of the prompt randomization (whether that is dice rolls, card draws, or whatever), type up the prompt below the photo, and then I include a paragraph where I give you information about the generator tool I used.

If you know of any other useful tools like these, please let me know. I’d love to keep expanding my collection. It’s cool to see what sorts of ideas can be generated when you use a randomization method for creation.

Story Engine Deck

Prompt: A Secret Admirer Wants to Find Love With An Overlooked Artist But It Will Make Their Timeline Dangerously Unstable.

This prompt comes from this storytelling deck from The Story Engine, which is a prompt and idea generating tool that I adore for both creative writing and for TTRPG plotting.

Tarot/Oracle Deck

Prompt: Luck, Risk, Survival

Once again, I used my Urban Crow Oracle Deck by MJ Cullinane for this prompt. I really like using this oracle deck, because the card names are different from a tarot deck. I do have a few different tarot decks as well, and I might use those at some point for future draws, but for now I’m really enjoying my crow deck. What can I say? I just like crows.

Roll & Play

Prompt: 1) In a puff of smoke, an elderly person with charred clothing appears. Their teleportation spell went badly wrong.

This month I decided to roll the dice on the Magical Encounters page in the Roll & Play book. You can use the dice I rolled, or if you have your own d20, you can roll on the chart yourself. Or heck, if you want to then you can just choose whichever option sparks your interest. 

Sidequest Decks

Prompt 1: The City Beyond the Veil – When the stars align in certain ways–known only to hoary astrologers and maddened sages–a fabled city opens its gates. Only then can the daring attend the court of the powerful fiends that dwell within.

Prompt 2: On Their Best Behavior – An ambassador has been dispatched to a distant land. Those who travel with them must not cause an incident with an alien culture.

The Sidequest decks from Inkwell Ideas are another wonderful accessory designed for TTRPGs, but can easily be used for writers as well. This time around I went back to the Political and Urban Fantasy deck, and again, I went with two options as prompt inspiration. You can use either option, and you can either use the basic concept at the top of the card, or you can use the various encounters at the bottom of the card to expand upon the adventure/story further.

The Oracle Story Generator

Prompt: A Priest Will Coerce A Peer To Forge a New Alliance But Their Action Costs Them Everything.

Finally, we have a new addition to the prompt generation: The Oracle Story Generator by Nord Games. They have a Character Generator as well, but that one won’t be shipped out for another couple months. I’ve only looked through a few of these cards before writing up this post, so I’m pretty excited to delve further into the story options with these decks. With this prompt, you can make it even more specific by either rolling a four-sided die for each card, or by simply choosing which option you like best.

As always, when we reach the final Friday of the month, I’ll be sharing some snippets from what I’ve been writing over the past weeks. If you choose to create anything based on these prompts (or even if you don’t), feel free to share your creative projects with me for the last Friday of the month too. I’d love to celebrate whatever creative progress you’re making too!

Tomorrow I’ll be back with a bonus Weekend Writer book, diving into the first two chapters of our next creative writing deep dive book: The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass.

Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

NetGalley Review: Poisoned Empire by Elyse Thomson

Hey all, Sam here.

I didn’t want to take the spotlight away from our posts about the Downtown Summer Market on our Facebook page, so I decided to post today’s review a little later than normal. Speaking of, if you aren’t already, find us on Facebook at Free State of Geek. It has cross posts from the blog and from David’s Instagram, so it’s a pretty cool place to follow…and it’ll probably be the first place to find exciting news about the future of Free State of Geek.

Okay, enough promoting our blog/social media accounts. Today I am here to talk about a soon-to-be-released book. This was one I found on NetGalley, and the premise, plus the striking cover, had me adding it to my most anticipated releases list. So, needless to say, I’m excited to talk about it today.

Let’s get started.

Cinderella (feral) meets The Lies of Locke Lamora in this lush romantic fantasy set in a world inspired by the Eastern Roman Empire.

Black-marketeer Selene has poison magic and the cynicism to match. When she and genius metals mage Iliana are arrested by the same scheming, noble fathers who tossed them out at birth, they suspect apologies won’t be forthcoming. Forced to either impersonate their half-sisters or die, the friends are stuffed into fancy dresses, packed off to the capital, and thrust into the perilous, glittering world of the imperial court.

Traitors lurk in Prince Belisarius’ court, and only his loyal strategos Marduk is above suspicion. As noble-born villains siphon away the souls of their daughters to magnify their magic in secret, Belisarius plots to expose them all—by inviting every noblewoman in the empire to compete for his hand in marriage. But two infuriating imposters in attendance quickly become his bane.

When the friends are discovered, they expect imprisonment—not a deal. Vast riches are on offer if Selene poses as fiancée to the handsome prince while Iliana simpers for the towering strategos—a ploy to lure traitorous enemies to the capital. Yet even as they help secure the throne, false affections flirt with real passions, and Selene and Iliana are convinced they’ll either lose their hearts… or their heads.

My Thoughts

Rating: 4.5 stars

I DEVOURED this book. Seriously, I think I ended up reading about 90% in one day while at work. It was just fun and intriguing and a bit chaotic (mostly because of one of the characters), and I was just having a lovely time. Actually, I’ll be honest. I had like three reads in a row that were just such a fun reading experience for me.

It has been such a privilege to be back in this mood, this obsession, with reading. I’ve missed it, and in trying to read all these new and upcoming releases, plus some reads from the past year or two that I just put off because of slumpiness…there are just so many books that I am reading and loving right now.

So this one is a fantasy world inspired by the Eastern Roman Empire, and that’s obvious by some of the names and titles and such. But what really interested me was the different forms of magic.

And, of course, following Selene and Iliana, especially after they got pulled into this political intrigue/political marriage competition (sort of) scheme. Because this introduces them to Marduk and Belisarius…and wow, was that entertaining for me.

Selene is basically just chaos. She is crass and forceful and doesn’t much care for the behaviors of the nobility, and doesn’t really care to pretend to be some preening damsel type. Plus, with her thieving ways and her poison magic, she can get away with a lot. Then there’s Iliana, who is sweet and compassionate, but also has this core of molten iron (which is appropriate because she is a metal mage).

I don’t know what else to really say about this. It’s not the first Roman inspired fantasy I’ve read, and it probably won’t be the last. But I’ve really been enjoying all the Middle Eastern and Asian and African and Latinx inspired fantasies that have been coming out with more frequency the past couple years.

Still, I’m glad I read this. I am adding the sequel to my TBR, and I’ll be picking up a finished copy after release day.

Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

WIP Wednesday – July 5

Hey all, Sam and David back again today.

All right…no time to waste. Let’s jump into everything we’ve been up to over the last week.

Sam

Reading: Wolfsong by T.J. Klune, A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel-Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody, Poisoned Empire by Elyse Thomson.

Okay, as of the writing of this post, I’m not completely finished with Poisoned Empire, but if tonight is a slow-ish night at work, I should definitely be finishing it today, so I’m going to go ahead and put it on my finished list.

As for current/soon-to-read books, I have The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem, Ghosted by Amanda Quain, several volumes of One Piece by Eiichiro Oda, and The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass on my list. I want to try and read all of the East Blue arc for One Piece, since that is what the live-action series on Netflix is set to cover (and I may decide to watch the corresponding anime episodes as well) before the live-action series comes at the end of August. And of course, I am starting to dive into the next Weekend Writer book for those weekly deep-dive posts, so I’ll be picking that up either tomorrow or possibly Friday afternoon before the post is written/goes live. Other than that, my reads are focused on some of my planned upcoming NetGalley reviews. I’m keeping pretty busy.

Watching: “Secret Invasion” Season 1 (in progress), “Charmed” Season 3, Season 4 (in progress), “Nimona,” “The Witcher” Season 3 Part 1, “Stan Lee” (Documentary on Disney+)

Writing: My goal for Camp NaNoWriMo is 30,000 words, which is nearly 1,000 words per day. Since today is Day 5, that means I should be at 4,839 words. I haven’t completed my writing for today, as of this post being written and going live, so based on my total as of yesterday, I was at 4,042 words, all of it on the Cozy Vampire novel I’m writing. I should probably give a little focus on Harbingers, but I’m just having a delightful time with this cozy fantasy tale. I’m so used to writing high stakes and high consequences, I didn’t really realize how much fun and silly it was to just writing something that is cute and fun for the sake of being cute and fun. I’m sure there will be some stress and chaos moments (but minimal stress and chaos) later in the story, but for now the biggest problems the main character has faced was still having like 40 pages to go in a book and needing to leave to drive to book club…so she finds the audiobook through the Libby app and finishes listening to the book on her drive.

Other: We have not had nearly enough time to do other things the past few weeks, things like going bowling, or going for hikes, or playing disc golf, or even playing Diablo IV. Having opposed work schedules has made that a bit difficult. But I guess my training period is over after this week, and next week there will be a new work schedule…so maybe David and I will get a little more time together starting the next work week (which runs Sun-Sat). We’ll see.

David

Painting: So I finally got a good varnish coat on the Ultramarines. That will save the paint from wearing off with gameplay and what not. I have almost finished the Mirko, decided to go fancy and try doing some highlights to that one.

I got the new printers in and have almost finished building one of them. I have also gotten some Goblin army figures from my Loot Studios that will be painted soon enough so I am hoping to be able to use them in the near future. I know I had posted a picture before, but I am really proud of my work on these guys.

Oh and other than having some issues with the paint on the canopy I have almost gotten all of the touch ups done for that. At least it wont look like complete poo when we got it up on top of the canopy.

Playing: So I have not been able to play much over the last week when it comes to video games. However I invited Iyov, one of the kids from the Colorworld crew to play some Magic the Gathering. He kicked my butt in two games one was Standard and the other was Commander. I did manage to get him in the other game of Commander but it was still hard fought. We are hoping to play some more MTG with the Lord of the Rings cards set. I learned that he does not like Frodo at all and that Samwise is higher up on his choices of characters.

I am hoping to play some Diablo or Tears of the Kingdom later tonight, but let us be honest with prep needing to be done for the Summer Market tomorrow my geekery will once again suffer. It will be fun to hang out a bit with some of the neighborhood though.

Printing: Okay so all Cinderwings production has stopped for the moment as we inch closer to GenCon. We plan to have some goodies for Critters and non-Critters alike and since I will be in the vendor hall like 90% of the time the chances you will see at least me are likely. The new printers will be put to the test and who knows this brand might replace the one I am currently favoring.

I am planning to also expand on what I am printing here soon, I am just in need of test printing some of the new stuff we got. So look forward to a whole bunch of cool stuff guys and remember I am always up for talking shop.

—-+

All right, that’s all from us for today. Feel free to let us know what you’ve been up to this week, because we’d love to know. Thank you so much for stopping by, and we’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

David’s Game Reviews: Diablo4

So like many are right now we here at FreeStateofGeek have been trying out Diablo 4. Play one of five classes as you fight to take down the daughter of hatred.

Review:

Rating: 4.5

So we decided to take up this challenge together. Sam decided to play a Druid and act as our tank, while I decided to play a distant Rogue.

This may be an MMO but it definitely still feels like everything I have come to love about a Diablo game. The enemies can be tough and a lot of times we barely make it out alive.

Sam has her focuses on her abilities to shape shift into creatures. Using brute force to plow here way through demons and monsters that get in our way. When it came to facing off against a big bad she was always first to the fight. For some reason she was also running faster than me so that played a part as well.

She she got to a point she might be overwhelmed she could still call upon her animal companions to keep some of the enemies off of her while she focuses her attacks elsewhere.

Me on the other hand was laying out traps for enemies who got to close and dealing out area of effect damage to weaken them as they approached us. I chose to focus on poison damage and attacking from a distance. Its my belief to kill the things before they get to me, which means I tend to dodge alot and move around the battlefield while leaving fun traps everywhere.

We are both enjoying the story and have only made it part way through Act 3, but overall the game and stories have been fun. Being able to play a game together is always a highlight for us since couch co ops are not too common.

My only issue with the game is constantly freezing and booted out of the game sometimes. This could just be that some of the game is still a bit buggy. That is the only complaint we have really had so far.

What kinds of builds do you guys go for in an MMO? We would love to know

Manga Review: The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint Vol 1 by Yuka Tachibana and Aoagu

Hey all, Sam here.

It feels fun to be writing a review for this particular manga series (even if it’s the first volume of the spin-off) when they just announced that the anime adaptation will be getting a second season, and I am super excited about that. David and I were watching the first season of the anime together but we got a bit busy with everything, so we need to get caught up before season two comes this fall.

Anyway, I’m feeling pretty good about my reading and writing and blogging and everything. It’s Camp NaNoWriMo time. I’m keeping up with my daily word count goals, and really enjoying the projects I’m working on. I am still keeping the blogs coming each day, which is great. I’m managing to get back to my old habit of reading like 15-20 books each month. And I’m back to working a full-time job again. It’s all just pretty awesome.

Okay, let’s jump into today’s Manga Monday review post!

Aira Misono is a run-of-the-mill high school girl. She never imagined that she’d be summoned to another world, let alone declared its savior. Yet from the moment the handsome Prince Kyle lays eyes on her, he’s convinced that she’s the long-awaited Holy Saint destined to banish darkness from his world. Aira herself maintains significant doubts. Is she really up to this challenge? She might be able to use magic, but is she really a Saint? Aira’s fears and struggles only deepen when the woman summoned alongside her begins to look more and more like the one who truly deserves that title.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

Don’t get me wrong…I adore Sei as a main character, and I really do enjoy the main series, but finding out that there was going to be a spin-off/companion series that gives more insight into Aira’s time in this other world.

We’ve known that the Saint summoning ritual brought two young women to the world, and because of Prince Kyle, it was believed that Aira was the true Saint and Sei was just a bonus or a side effect or something. But after that we pretty much are wholly focused on Sei, and only get to see Aira in passing a couple times. I know for me, at least, I was curious what was going on with this Other Saint.

Part of this volume is basically a reiteration of what we’ve seen in a couple different volumes of the main series, but other than that we get to see Aira in magic lessons, and discovering a high aptitude with a few different magical affinities, something that makes her stand apart and above other magic users in the world, while also making her unique among our Saints as well.

But Aira basically having Saint level power in magic other than just Holy magic makes me wonder if we’re building up to some HUGE problem in the world, something that will actually require two Saints.

It was interesting to follow Aira around in this volume, especially seeing how she is basically kept so separate and isolated. I felt a bit sorry for her. But I think things are going to start really changing for her, especially as it has become more clear that Sei is the Saint that was summoned. It takes a lot of the weight and pressure off of Aira’s shoulders, but also leaves her wondering what her life and future look like since she is also now trapped in this new world and new life.

I think this was a nice introductory episode to what could be a pretty great companion series. I look forward to seeing how Aira grows and changes. I still need to buy Volume 2, so hopefully I can do that fairly soon and have another review for this series up in the near future.

Well that’s all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

NetGalley Review: Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long

Hey all, Sam here.

I both love and hate my days off work…love them because they’re days when I can relax and do whatever, but hate them because sometimes I want to be doing things and instead I end up taking a nap…which is why this review wasn’t up an hour or so ago. Even with the premature fireworks, I still fell asleep.

Which was nice, but at the same time I wanted to get more accomplished for this first of my two days off work. And isn’t that just ridiculous? Thinking that way? There shouldn’t be anything wrong with taking some time away from being busy and accomplishing things. There should be time for rest, and we shouldn’t feel this need to do things and accomplish things all the time. It’s totally okay to just rest and relax and do nothing.

But, I did also promise two book reviews today, so here we go.

A stormsinger and pirate hunter join forces against a deathless pirate lord in this swashbuckling Jacobean adventure on the high-seas.

Launching the Winter Sea series, full of magic, betrayal, redemption and fearsome women, for readers of Adrienne Young, R. J. Barker and Naomi Novik.

Mary Firth is a Stormsinger: a woman whose voice can still hurricanes and shatter armadas. Faced with servitude to pirate lord Silvanus Lirr, Mary offers her skills to his arch-rival in exchange for protection – and, more importantly, his help sending Lirr to a watery grave. But her new ally has a vendetta of his own, and Mary’s dreams are dark and full of ghistings, spectral creatures who inhabit the ancient forests of her homeland and the figureheads of ships.

Samuel Rosser is a disgraced naval officer serving aboard The Hart, an infamous privateer commissioned to bring Lirr to justice. He will stop at nothing to capture Lirr, restore his good name and reclaim the only thing that stands between himself and madness: a talisman stolen by Mary.

Finally, driven into the eternal ice at the limits of their world, Mary and Samuel must choose their loyalties and battle forces older and more powerful than the pirates who would make them slaves.

Come sail the Winter Sea, for action-packed, high-stakes adventures, rich characterisation and epic plots full of intrigue and betrayal.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

I have absolutely loved Long’s other books, which are Nordic inspired fantasy dealing with gods and magic and monsters and…I just was fascinated by the concept and the characters and the writing. So naturally, when I heard that she had a new series coming, one with pirates and women whose voices can affect the weather….I was certainly intrigued.

And thankfully, I was granted an early copy from the publisher thanks to NetGalley. It was such a struggle to hold off on reading this until it was closer to the release date (which is July 11 for the US, so it isn’t too far out). I did also pre-order this book during Barnes & Noble’s Pre-Order Sale a couple months ago.

I was definitely drawn into the story very quickly. I wanted to know more about Mary and Samuel, especially after their paths crossed and the adventure truly began. Getting to experience the story through both of their perspectives was really entertaining. There was so much to love about both of them, even as they doubted decisions they made.

The magic was cool, and I really enjoyed getting to explore the world and the lore and the monsters. I flew through this book. The sad thing about reading books early, even if it’s just a couple weeks early, is that I now have an even long wait for book two…unless I manage to snag an early copy through the publisher via NetGalley.

It’s like a nautical flintlock fantasy, an action-packed adventure, a swashbuckling good time, a perfect summer blockbuster in book form. I can’t wait to have the final copy of this book on my bookshelves, and I’m already looking forward to reading it again.

All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.