Danielle Thamasa's Blog, page 27

Weekend Writer: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel Chapters Eleven and Twelve by Jessica Brody

Hey all, Sam here.

Whew…we made it to Friday. I can absolutely admit that I am struggling a little bit to find my new rhythm now that I’m going to work five days a week…although after my 4-6 weeks of training, there’s a chance that everyone will get a schedule change and we’ll work four ten-ish hour shifts instead of five eight-ish hour shifts. I say -ish on the hours because my job has to wait on other people to finish their jobs at the end of the night before we can finish our job, so sometimes that takes a little longer.

Anyway, Friday means it is time for Weekend Writer. We only have a couple more weeks worth of material for Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody. But the good news is that I’ve already selected the book I’m going to dive into next…and I’ll probably talk about that a little more at the end of this post.

Okay, are we ready for our next writing craft book deep dive? How about those June writing prompts? Have you been working on them (spoiler alert: I haven’t and I really need to get started)?

Fine, fine, it’s time to get started. Let’s go.

SAVE THE CAT!® by Blake Snyder is a popular screenwriting book series and storytelling methodology used by screenwriters, directors, and studio execs across Hollywood. Now, for the first time ever, bestselling author and writing teacher, Jessica Brody, takes the beloved Save the Cat! plotting principals and applies them to the craft of novel writing in this exciting new “workshop style” guide, featuring over 20 full beat sheets from popular novels throughout time.

Whether you’re writing your first novel or your seventeenth, Save the Cat! breaks down plot in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step method so you can write stories that resonate! This book can help you with any of the following:

Outlining a new novel
Revising an existing novel
Breaking out of the dreaded “writer’s block”
Fixing a “broken” novel
Reviewing a completed novel
Fleshing out/test driving a new idea to see if it “has legs”
Implementing feedback from agents and/or editors
Helping give constructive feedback to other writers

But above all else, SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL will help you better understand the fundamentals and mechanics of plot, character transformation, and what makes a story work!

Chapter Eleven: Out of the Bottle – A Little Bit of Magic Goes a Long Way

Here we go…as with all previous chapters, this one opens with a block that tells us what books will be discussed/spoiled in the chapter. This Out of the Bottle story genre is all about the hero wishing for something that will make their problems go away and then that wish coming true.

But this magical genre isn’t just about granting wishes. It’s also about bestowing curses, sending guardian angels, swapping bodies, and even transporting your hero into strange dimensions and parallel universes.

Regardless of the type of nature-bending you choose to do, all of the stories in the Out of the Bottle genre boil down to the same thing: a guy or gal is bestowed with some sort of magic, realizes that “reality” isn’t all that bad, and comes out in the end a changed person.

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Basically this genre uses the magic as a way to illustrate the fact that we are pretty great ourselves, without magic. In these stories, while the hero is bestowed magic (whether that is a blessing or a curse), they’ll discover through their journey that they didn’t actually need the magic after all.

Brody points out that this particular genre doesn’t have a lot of fantasy or sci-fi that is “other world.” The Out of the Bottle genre isn’t about exploring a new fantastical world. Instead it is about people from our world temporarily gifted or cursed with magic, and because they are like us, we relate to them, and they are fun to read about.

To make a successful Out of the Bottle story, there are three elements to include: 1) a hero deserving of the magic, 2) a spell or touch of magic, and 3) a lesson.

First off: your hero. This could be a desperate underdog in need of some magical intervention or a massive jerk who needs to be taught a magical lesson. What really matters is that the reader needs to understand quickly why this hero is getting this particular magic.

There are basically two different basic stories here: an empowerment story or a comeuppance story. An empowerment story would be something like Cinderella, a tread-upon type who just can’t catch a break until there is a magical intervention (the fairy godmother). We can see a comeuppance story in the same tale, with the stepsisters, who are in need of a reality check.

Brody notes here that comeuppance stories are harder to pull off…because it’s easier for a reader to get turned off from the hero/story if they don’t find something to connect with. So you need to give the hero something redeemable that the reader can connect with, something that shows that the hero is worth saving. This is your save-the-cat moment.

The next element is the bit of magic. This can come in many different forms: a spell, a potion, a ghost, a magic telephone or mailbox or typewriter. Whatever it is, the bit of magic needs to be front and center in Act 2 of your story.

Whether your hero wishes for the magic themselves or the magic is thrust upon them, make sure the spell itself is unique! Make it interesting, and fun, and exciting. This will be your novel’s hook.

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As an important note, Brody points out that you do not need to spend a lot of time explaining how the magic works. That isn’t the point of the story. The magic just works. Because more important than the how are the rules of the magic. You need to keep the rules consistent so the reader can ignore that it is impossible and instead think that it’s magic and it’s an interesting good read, so keep reading.

The final element is the lesson, or how the hero is transformed by the magic. Because in the end the hero will realize that it isn’t the magic that will fix their life. They will have to fix their life themselves. So the magic in Cinderella gives her the dress and the glass slippers and the carriage and all of that to get to the ball…but in the end Cinderella has to take her future into her own hands and call out to the prince herself so she can leave behind her life of servitude.

To beat Act 3 of the story, the hero needs to have a story beat they do without the magic, a moment where they prove once and for all that they didn’t need magic to change. In the end, the true magic is within ourselves.

Page 215 has a list of popular Out of the Bottle books, and then pages 215-223 is a story beat breakdown of one of the novels.

Chapter Twelve: Golden Fleece – Road Trips and Quests and Heists, Oh My!

Again we begin this chapter with the block including books that will be spoiled within the chapter.

Here we are, at the story genre that is all about the journey instead of the destination, because cliche or not, it’s true.

Because we all know road trips aren’t about the final destination, whether that be a landmark, prize, trophy, or other physical thing. No, the road trip is about the great adventure! The quest! The pit stops, the detours, the drama!

But most of all, road trips are about what we discover along the way…about ourselves. At least that’s what any great road trip novel should be about.

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Heist stories, quest stories, road trip stories…they all fit in this story genre. And like all the other genre chapters we’ve gone over so far, there are three story features needed to create a successful Golden Fleece story: 1) a road, 2) a team, and 3) a prize.

First up: the road. This doesn’t have to mean a literal road. It is merely the setting for the journey. So, it could be a road, or an ocean, or a fantasy realm, or another dimension, or a virtual world. What matters is that by adventuring down this “road” there is growth. You need to be able to chart your hero’s transformation throughout the journey.

A common element in Golden Fleece stories, according to Brody, is a road apple. This is something that stops the journey cold, usually right when the victory is in sight. It is a literal or figurative roadblock for the hero and their companions, which forces them to look at their plans and strategies, repair bridges, and dig deep to find their true strengths and skills

Element number two is the team that joins the hero on the quest. It could be a two person team, three members, or even a large group. Or it could even be a Solo Fleece, where the team is one person who meets several helpers along the journey.

The team size doesn’t matter, but most of these Golden Fleece stories have a B story that is about friendship or love. The rest of the team plays a role in this story and also brings necessary skills and talents to the journey.

Brody notes that if you are setting up a large team, and this is especially true of heist type stories, each team member should be introduced in a unique and interesting way. If you can do that well then your readers are in for a treat.

Finally, there is the prize. What waits at the end of this quest/journey? The prize needs to be compelling and appealing to start the journey and bring the reader along on the ride, even though in the end, it doesn’t matter as much. The journey itself is what is important.

Even so, the prize should be something primal. Something we can all relate to. Like going home (The Wizard of Oz, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), securing a treasure (Ready Player One, Six of Crows), a crown (The Selection by Keira Cass), reaching an important destination (Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour, As I Lay Dying), or gaining a birthright (A Game of Thrones).

The primal prize is what sets the story in motion–often tied in with the Catalyst beat–but it often has less value and meaning once it’s actually achieved (or not achieved!). It’s more of a device to get your team on the road and the story into action. In the end, your hero or heroes may not even get the prize, and that’s OK! Because that’s not what the story is really about.

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Because the real treasure is what the hero gained along the journey, whether that is love or friendship or teamwork or whatever theme your B Story focuses on. Brody also comments that this makes these types of stories difficult to plot, because there needs to be milestones to meet along the journey. This can be people or situations the team encounters on the journey, and they might seem unconnected at first, but in the overall arc of the story, they are connected.

The true end goal is the weaving of the A Story and the B Story to reach something like Internal growth, Transformation, Real Change, and finding a satisfying and transformational conclusion.

Page 232 has a list of popular Golden Fleece novels, and then pages 233-243 have a beat by beat breakdown of one of these types of novels.

As promised, here’s a sneak peek at the next book I’ll be focusing on for Weekend Writer, and this book’s breakdown will begin in July.

The next book to be featured in Weekend Writer is: 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.

Most Anticipated Releases July-Dec 2023

Hey all, Sam here.

Well, I did one of these posts at the beginning of the year, looking at releases I was looking forward to for the first half of the year, so now it’s time to circle back around and look ahead at the rest of the year…because there are a good number of books I’m looking forward to for the rest of the year. Now, some of them I’ve already been lucky enough to receive digital ARCs for through NetGalley–Actually, I’ve already started getting approvals for early 2024 releases, which is exciting.

Of all of the books on this list, I think there’s only a couple that aren’t fantasy. That makes total sense because I love fantasy reads. But what was really fun for me when looking over this list is that it’s a pretty diverse selection, and that is really awesome. I’m glad to see more diversity in authors and inspirations for fictional worlds.

Where it is applicable, I’ll let you know if I’ve received a digital ARC, because I’m hoping to get to these books before their releases so I can get reviews up.

All right, it’s a pretty lengthy list, so let’s go ahead and get started.

July: Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long (July 11), Poisoned Empire by Elyse Thomson (July 12), The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis (July 11), The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem (July 18), The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz (July 25), The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec (July 25), Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto (July 25)

Okay, all of the books on my July anticipated list, I either have an ARC for, or I have a completed copy…because The Curse of Saints was the May Adult book from FairyLoot, and the rest I’ve been approved for on NetGalley, so thank you so much to all of the publishers for approving me. I’m very much looking forward to reading all of these. They seem to have fascinating fantasy worlds and intriguing storylines.

August: Dragons of Fate by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Aug 1), Guardians of Dawn: Zhara by S. Jae Jones (Aug 1), Masters of Death by Olivie Blake (Aug 8), The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim (Aug 22), He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan (Aug 22), Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim (Aug 29)

Am I super far behind on the Dragonlance series? Why yes, yes I am. Am I still looking forward to adding this to my collection? Absolutely. And I’m pretty sure that Weis and Hickman will be at Gen Con again, so I’ll be able to get a signed copy.

I have been approved for digital ARCs of Zhara, The Midnight Kingdom, He Who Drowned the World, and Her Radiant Curse, which means that I have another incredible month of reads and releases to look forward to. And actually, I need to get reviews for the first books in the series by Tara Sim and Shelley Parker-Chan written up and posted before I post reviews for these second books. And again, August’s releases are a pretty diverse selection, and I’m very excited about diving into them.

September: Daughter of Winter and Twilight by Helen Corcoran (Sep 4), City of Bones by Martha Wells (Sep 5), Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (Sep 12), The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall (Sep 19), The Art of Destiny by Wesley Chu (Sep 26), The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft (Sep 26)

Currently I have been approved for Daughter of Winter and Twilight and The Hexologists, but I have requests out for a couple others. We’ll see what happens, but I’m excited to read more by Martha Wells, and I really need to read the first book in this series by Wesley Chu, so this should be proper motivation. Also, it has been such a long time since I read the previous release by Helen Corcoran, so I might need a re-read to refresh myself on the world first.

October: The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon (Oct 3), Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco (Oct 3), Night of the Witch by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis (Oct 3), Lore Olympus: Volume 5 by Rachel Smythe (Oct 3), Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection edited by Madeline Dyer (Oct 10), Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker (Oct 17), Our Divine Mischief by Hanna Howard (Oct 17), Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (Oct 31)

So far I have been approved for The Hurricane Wars and Our Divine Mischief, but I have requests out on a few others, so I’m hoping for approval…especially for Being Ace, because I have been doing a deep dive into expanding my knowledge of my own self and my identity.

But this seems like a pretty good selection of fall/spooky/atmospheric reads, and I’m very much looking forward to reading them. I’m sad that this marks the release of the final Up and Under book from A Deborah Baker AKA Seanan McGuire, but I’m curious how Avery and Zib and the others complete their journey

November: Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Nov 7), The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard (Nov 7), Vengeance of the Pirate Queen by Tricia Levenseller (Nov 7), Eragon: The Illustrated Edition by Christopher Paolini and Sidharth Chaturvedi (Nov 7), Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (Nov 7), A Curse of Krakens by Kevin Hearne (Nov 7), Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon (Nov 28), Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (Nov 28)

There isn’t even a proper cover reveal yet for Iron Flame, and I still technically need to read Fourth Wing, but I am fairly certain that I’m going to love it, and I absolutely NEED to get my hands on Bookshops & Bonedust. I’d also love to get my hands on a physical ARC of The Hunting Moon, since I have a physical ARC of the first book as well. And of course, I’ve already read Eragon numerous times, but I’m excited to check out this Illustrated Edition.

Oh, I’ve been approved for a digital ARC of Godly Heathens and Gwen and Art Are Not in Love so far, but we’ll see if other requests pan out in the coming months. Regardless, this is another month of releases that I’m really excited about.

December: …………………………..

Well, this is weird. I actually haven’t found anything as far as December releases I’m looking forward to. I did find one book that looked interesting, but it is the third book in a series and I haven’t even read the first book yet…so I can’t really include that here.

But, I guess that’s okay, to not really have releases I’m anticipating just yet…because I know that January is usually chock full of books I’m looking forward to.

All right, that is all from me for today. Let me know what some of your most anticipated releases are for the rest of the year, because I’d love to know if there’s any more I need to add to my list! Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

WIP Wednesday – June 14

Hey all, Sam and David back again today.

It has been an interesting week, to say the least. In the past week, Sam had a job interview, got the job, and had her first day of work yesterday. And we had the Downtown Summer Market last week, and that was pretty great too, so David can talk about that more in his section.

Anyway, welcome back to WIP Wednesday, our blog series where we like to check in and keep track of everything we’ve been up to each week. This means talking about what we’ve read, what we’ve watched, what we’ve played, what we’ve done…everything. Because honestly, if we don’t keep track of that then the days and weeks have a tendency to start blending together, which is unfortunate.

Sam

Reading: Rising Fire by Terri Brisbin, A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato, The Twice-Drowned Saint by C.S.E. Cooney

I’ll be honest: I’m feeling the urge to read some romantasy (fantasy romance) or just some romance in general, so I’m trying to sprinkle those into my already loosely planned TBR and such, but the urge is strong to just toss the TBR out the window. I don’t want to do that because I’m trying to keep up with reading and reviewing my NetGalley reads. But I read Rising Fire by Terri Brisbin in just a couple hours the other day–partly while taking a relaxing bath–and it was just really nice.

I’m still reading The Study of Poisons by Maria V. Snyder and Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool. There was a lot going on this week and it threw me a bit off schedule. As I settle into this new schedule with my work days and such, it should start to balance out a bit again. But I’m also thinking that I need to pick up The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu, and The City of Dusk by Tara Sim, because I am approved for their sequels through NetGalley, and I’d love to get them read and reviewed in time for their respective releases.

Watching: “Shadowhunters” Season 3 (in progress), “Pinocchio” (animated), “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” Season 3 (in progress), and a whole bunch of BookTube videos.

So look, because of the move and work and everything last year, I fell behind on a couple of my regularly watched BookTubers, and so I have spent some time the past couple weeks basically binge-watching videos to try and catch up. I’ve caught up on one and I’m like 6 videos behind on the other…but that means I’ve almost completely caught up. I’ve missed watching videos of people reading books and talking about books and recommending books and doing book hauls. It has been fun to get back into them, even if it has drastically diminished the rest of my TV binge-watching.

Writing: I’ve been thinking more about my writing, particularly when it comes to Camp NaNoWriMo in July. At the moment I’m still stuck between Harbingers of Death and Sink Your Teeth Into Some Good Books –as a note these are both working titles and might change by the time the books are completed. So for the moment I’m basically jotting down character and plot details and trying to get enough of a skeleton for me to work with. If one of the ideas has more traction then that will be my Camp project, but if both are equal then I will work on both of them over the next month.

Other: We did the Downtown Summer Market last Thursday and it was pretty great. I’ll let David share more information about that. But last Thursday I also had a job interview and was hired on the spot…and I had my first day of work yesterday. I won’t say a whole lot about the job, but it does involve a lot of counting and organization…but also has some slow times where I am able to read or write, so I think I’m going to enjoy the job for now.

Of course, I’d still absolutely love to either find a job working in a library, or to find a job where I can work from home, so I am still job hunting. I just don’t need to look with the same urgency that I was these past weeks.

Aside from that, David and I have been playing Diablo IV whenever we have the time to play together, although David has a few other characters that he plays when I’m not available to play. It’s still fun, and we’ve completed Act II, although we still have so many side quests and dungeons and Lilith shrines to find to complete some of the regions. I like that you can look up how many you’ve completed versus how many there actually are. It’s useful if you want to complete all the things.

David

Well once again Sam’s section is always more detailed and eventful than mine is since what I do does not have a big variety like Sam’s stuff but here it goes.

Printing: The process of building up an inventory continues at the moment. We are hoping to make use of some ‘Fall’ themed colors in order to get ready for spooky season. I have gotten ahold of some bone colored filaments and some that transition with blacks, golds, reds, and purples. Hopefully more pictures will start up soon so you all can get a preview.

Progress on the Green Goblin mask is going okay, just working on smoothing out the seams of having put the pieces together. Might try a different way for the rest of it.

Gaming: As expected Diablo 4 and Tears of the Kingdom are still prominent in my gaming time still. I did make quite a bit of progress in The Depths today while exploring . I did not manage to find any more shrines above though. It might be time for me to actually do the upgrades to the PuraPad that I have been holding off on for so darn long.

I have been experimenting with a few of the classes of Diablo 4 so far I think my favorite is the Sorceror, though my main would be the Rogue that teams up with Sam’s Druid. I might switch back to trying to do a good AoE range build though as I do not like playing melee classes in any game.

Watching: I have been up to date on all the anime I am currently watching. I did however make a few more episodes of progress on One Piece, which puts me at around episode 630 I believe lol. I have so much to catch up on, but it is always fun to watch. I have been trying to watch more videos on editing models and sculpting models in blender I just need more time to do more in depth ones.

Well, that is all from us for today. Please let us know what you’ve been up to in the comments, because we’d love to hear all about it. Thank you so much for stopping by and we’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Tabletop Tuesday: Dungeon! Fantasy Board Game

Hey all, Sam and David here today.

We are back for another Tabletop Tuesday, and this week we are talking about a game that takes elements from the classic TTRPG Dungeons & Dragons and turns it into a dungeon crawling board game.

If you’re new around her, hello and welcome! We are Sam and David, a married geeky couple who like to talk about books, video games, all sorts of tabletop games, manga, comic books and graphic novels, 3D printing, cosplay, Renaissance Festivals, Comic Cons, and so much more.

Every Tuesday we have this Tabletop Tuesday blog series, where we either talk about a board game, card game, dice game, TTRPG (Tabletop Role Playing Game), or some sort of book/accessory that is useful for tabletop gaming. We have a pretty decent game collection in our home, and we also attend Gen Con each year, which lets us play and purchase even more for our colletion.

All right, now that we’re all caught up, let’s go ahead and venture into today’s board game review.

First released in 1975 and revised throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the Dungeon! boardgame lets you explore a multi-level dungeon in search of treasure guarded by terrible monsters. The deeper into the dungeon you go, the deadlier the monsters and the greater the treasure. The player who returns to the beginning chamber with the most treasure wins!

This re-release of the classic Dungeon! boardgame stays true to the original but incorporates several revisions made to the game in later editions, giving players the most fun experience possible.

Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon! Is an exciting fantasy board game that provides hours of fun. Play a Fighter, a Rogue, a Cleric, or a Wizard searching for lost treasure in a dungeon filled with monsters. Only your magic, your weapons, and your wits can protect you! Plays like the classic board game with an updated look and feel. Easy-to-learn rules make this game accessible to all members of the family.

We have the 2014 edition of this game…and it definitely gets a mixed review from us. Overall it’s not a bad game, and most of the classes have a distinct feel to them that aligns with their D&D core abilities and features.

With one major exception, and it’s the reason that frustrates Sam above all others……..Clerics just plain ol’ suck in this game.

Wizards have access to spells, and those allow them to venture into the deeper levels of the dungeon and take on bigger monsters, which also yields loot worth more. This also makes sense because the Wizard needs to earn the most gold in order to win.

Rogues have an easier time spotting the secret doors, which can help them move through the dungeon faster, but they are also considered to be weaker and therefore are safest on the first levels of the dungeon and along with Clerics have the lowest gold needed to win.

Fighters are somewhere in the middle, and that is echoed in the middle amount of gold needed to win, along with the fact that fighters can handle the middle ranges of the dungeon levels. But fighters are also good at fighting, so they often have a lower number needed to defeat the monsters they find in the dungeon.

Clerics are okay. The rulebook has this to say about this class: “They’re good at regular combat, but not as good as Fighters. They’re safest on Levels 2 to 4. A Cleric must return to the Great Hall with 10,000gp in Treasure to win.” There’s actually a number of monsters that the clerics have the worst time beating (aside from maybe a wizard who decided using their fists was better than casting a spell). But there is literally nothing that makes the cleric stand out and reflect actual TTRPG class abilities. The rulebook says that Clerics are holy warriors, but there is no mechanic to show that off. Why not have the Cleric have an easier time defeating undead monsters? I have no idea whatsoever, but….here I’ll show off some examples.

These photos showcase monsters from Levels 1 to 4 of the Dungeon: Column 1 is Level 1, Column 2 is Level 2, Column 3 is Level 3, and Column 4 is Level 4. For each monster there are different symbols with numbers attached. These represent the different methods for fighting them: Green for Rogues, Blue for Clerics, Purple for Fighters, Red for Wizards, Orange for the Fireball Spell, and Yellow for the Lightning Bolt Spell.

Do you notice how the number for the fighter is lower than the other non-spellcasting classes, so the rogue and the cleric? Obviously showcasing that they are better at fighting. Sure, yeah, I get that.

But why does the Cleric have a 6 against the Ghoul in Column 2 when the Rogue only has a 5? When you look at the Skeleton, the Ghoul, the Zombie, and the Mummy…why isn’t the Cleric getting some kind of bonus there? One of the cool abilities for the Cleric in game is Turn Undead, and in many editions, the radiant damage dealt by classes such as Clerics was particularly effective against undead monsters. So why is that not reflected here?

The Rogue has a bonus to spotting the secret doors. The Fighter gets bonuses in literally every combat. The Wizard can sling spells from the doorway and not have to deal with a retaliation strike if they fail to slay the monster. The Cleric has……nothing.

And it’s crap.

It is this reason that makes Sam play a Wizard whenever we play this game, even though she absolutely loves playing Clerics.

This is a pretty easy game to set up and play overall…although sometimes it takes a while to move anywhere, especially when the tunnels and hallways and such through the dungeon are unevenly sized and spaced. But it isn’t a difficult game to learn, and does sometimes involve some strategy, or even just a little bit of luck.

Plus, each of the character tokens are folks from the overall canon of D&D lore, particularly Drizzt lore, which is nice, but expected because this is an official D&D board game from Wizards of the Coast.

And you can play it by yourself or with up to 6 players, so it makes for a decent game in the rotation for game nights.

Just…choose anything other than the cleric.

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

Manga Review: My [Repair] Skill Became a Versatile Cheat, So I Think I’ll Open a Weapon Shop Vol. 1 by Ginga Hoshikawa and Yukimi Enoki

Hey all, Sam here.

All right, so I’ve almost completely caught up on the recent manga series where I’ve read multiple volumes, which means things are going to get a little bit chaotic with these Manga Monday reviews. Next week I’ll be talking about The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent Volume 6, but aside from that I’m now to a bunch of first volumes that I read during the latest Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon back in April.

I do have some longer manga series that I own and I need to continue reading and reviewing, so I’ll probably jump back into those. For the moment though, I do have enough reviews to get me through the rest of this month and all of July…so I have time to figure out a reading and review game plan.

Anyway, welcome back to another installment of Manga Monday. Each week I like to post a review for one of the many manga series that I’ve been reading in the somewhat recent past. I say this because usually it takes me no more than a half-hour to read a volume, so I usually sit down and read 5-10 at once and then don’t read any again for several weeks.

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

It’s hard for Luke to make a name for himself as an adventurer with all the competition — especially when he’s a perpetually low-ranked adventurer whose only skill is (repair). But when Luke is abandoned by his party and uses that same (repair) skill to survive and escape the dungeon, a new world of possibilities opens up. Suddenly, his despised skill allows him not only to survive but to stand out in a crowded field!

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

Man, this was a pretty fun start to a series. David had actually picked it up and read it, and he said it was pretty cool…which is why I decided to add it to my TBR for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, and you know what? I think David was right. This is pretty cool, and I can definitely see the potential this series could have.

I can see why Luke didn’t make for a good adventurer. It makes sense that other skills would be much more useful for combat and healing and survivability out on the road…but at the same time I think Luke’s former party was stupid to not see Luke’s potential, because being able to fix/repair things can be an extremely useful and versatile skill….which Luke proves after he survives and escapes the dungeon on his own.

I also think that Luke lucked out in where he found himself, and that he was able to find other adventuring type folks who wanted to help him and found him and his skills to be wonderful. It just goes to show what a difference it makes when you have the right kind of people around you.

And I can definitely see where Luke’s repair skill is basically a cheat to make him really stand out among the other shops in the area.

Honestly, I thought this was cute. Can I remember any of the characters’ names now almost two months after reading this? Nope. Does that bother me? Not really, because I know I enjoyed the reading experience, and I plan on picking up more volumes in the future.

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: Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch

Hey all, Sam here.

It is a gloomy Sunday, mixed with occasional spurts of rain…and that is making me feel quite sleepy. I know I’ve had several days of less than ideal sleep, but the past few days I’ve ended up taking random afternoon naps and it is throwing my whole schedule into chaos. So, not my favorite thing to deal with. I’m actually brewing a pot of coffee right now in the hopes that it will help me wake up a bit so I can prep up posts for the next few days.

I’m still waiting to hear back from the new job about when I can actually start my training. I turned in my application last Tuesday, got called for the interview on Thursday, turned in all my paperwork and completed the orientation videos on Friday…and now I’m waiting. I know the boss wanted to try and get me started Tuesday or Wednesday, so we’ll see what happens.

But it basically means I am trying to get some of the blog posts drafted just in case the changes to my schedule affect my usual blogging schedule. I don’t think I’ll have to miss days or anything, but I’ll probably have to figure out a new schedule for me to get all the posts typed up.

Anyway, let’s talk about books. I have another NetGalley book review ready for today, and this book will be released on June 13 in the US, so let’s get started.

An atmospheric, feminist retelling of the early life of famed villainess Morgan le Fay, set against the colourful chivalric backdrop of Arthurian legend.

When King Uther Pendragon murders her father and tricks her mother into marriage, Morgan refuses to be crushed. Trapped amid the machinations of men in a world of isolated castles and gossiping courts, she discovers secret powers. Vengeful and brilliant, it’s not long before Morgan becomes a worthy adversary to Merlin, influential sorcerer to the king. But fighting for her freedom, she risks losing everything – her reputation, her loved ones and her life.

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

This is not my first Morgan le Fay story read this year. I also read The Cleaving by Juliet E. McKenna, which I also gave 4 stars, but if I had to rank these books against each other, Morgan is My Name would rank higher. It was easier to read and easier to connect with the characters. Actually, some of my rating for this book is because by the time the book ended, I felt like it was really just getting started and I wanted more.

I feel like this book deserves a sequel so we can get more of Morgan’s story and life, particularly now that King Arthur is in the story, and I’d love to see more of the relationship between the two characters.

A vast majority of this book deals with Morgan’s life from around age 7 to her mid-20s, mostly covering that time when Uther Pendragon stakes his claim to Morgan’s mother, marries off her sisters to other tribal kings in the area in exchange for soldiers, and basically asserts his dominance as man and “High King.” You can tell a bit what kind of man he is because he always calls Morgan by the name Morgana instead.

But Morgan is strong-willed and wild and defiant when she feels the need to be. She takes lessons, first from the local priest, and then after she is sent away to a nunnery, she takes even more lessons there, where she shows great skill in knowledge and in the laying on of hands, also known as healing arts. She even bonds with another Lady at the nunnery, Alys, who becomes a close friend and confidant. (Side note…Alys has a relationship with another young lady in the book, and Morgan is happy for the both of them, that they have each other and have a good and true “marriage” to each other)

There’s hints of happy romance in the story (I’m mad about how that turned out, because I wanted a resolution and it never happened), as well as magic, but mostly it is Morgan and the other women around her trying and fighting to take up space in the world, and to have some control and agency in their own lives. When Uther marries Morgan off, her husband seems at least halfway decent, but in the years that follow, it becomes clear that he is not nearly so nice.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m not going to say much more, but Arthur doesn’t even show up until like 80% of the way through the book. Before that the book felt both interesting and at times slow. But by the time Morgan is starting to embrace and fight for her power more and her half-brother shows up with his desire for change and to build something new, I was really getting drawn in to the point where the end was disappointing…and not because it was bad. Just because it was there at all. I wanted more. I wanted to see what would happen with Morgan and Arthur, because Arthur listened to Morgan and thought her to be wise.

So, yeah, I want a sequel. I want to see how Sophie Keetch would handle interpreting the rest of the Arthurian legend. I want to see more of Morgan and Arthur and Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.

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.

Book Review: Sounds Fake But Okay: An Asexual and Aromantic Perspective on Love, Relationships, Sex, and Pretty Much Anything Else by Sarah Costello and Kayla Kaszyca

Hey all, Sam here.

I’m continuing my Pride Month posts with more talk about Asexuality, because it is an important topic to me, and I feel like most of the time when I mention Asexuality in everyday conversation, people don’t really understand what it is or they have these misconceptions about what it is.

Last week, I talked about I Am Ace by Cody Daigle-Orians, and you can find my post at the included link. Today I’m talking about another book, but this one came out after a handful of years running a podcast by the same name.

Basically, as a wrap up to this introductory section for today’s post, I’m working on expanding my own knowledge and understanding about my own identity. It would be lovely if more folks out there could also take the time to take in information like this, whether it is about your identity or sexuality or not. Because I feel like knowing more and understanding more leads to more compassion and understanding for those around you. We can be better allies if we take the time to understand what is going on around us.

Okay, let’s get started.

Somehow, over time, we forgot that the rituals behind dating and sex were constructs made up by human beings and eventually, they became hard and fast rules that society imposed on us all.’

True Love. Third Wheels. Dick pics. ‘Dying alone’. Who decided this was normal?

Sarah and Kayla invite you to put on your purple aspec glasses – and rethink everything you thought you knew about society, friendship, sex, romance and more.

Drawing on their personal stories, and those of aspec friends all over the world, prepare to explore your microlabels, investigate different models of partnership, delve into the intersection of gender norms and compulsory sexuality and reconsider the meaning of sex – when allosexual attraction is out of the equation.

Spanning the whole range of relationships we have in our lives – to family, friends, lovers, society, our gender, and ourselves, this book asks you to let your imagination roam, and think again what human connection really is.

Includes exclusive ‘Sounds Fake But Okay’ podcast episodes.

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

This was a short, easy-to-digest book. Overall it’s only 160 pages long, and the end of each chapter includes a link to bonus episodes of the “Sounds Fake But Okay” podcast, which is a really cool addition to the information in this book. Actually, I’ve started listening to the podcast (from the beginning), so I have a couple hundred episodes to listen to, but they’re mostly around 30-ish minutes long–at least in these beginning episodes–so they’re easy enough to listen to when I go for a walk or something.

I like how Sarah and Kayla present the information on Asexuality, Aromanticism, and Demisexuality/Demiromanticism. It feels very conversational, as if we’re all just hanging out at a coffee shop or a casual pub or something and talking.

I didn’t tab up my book with this one the way I did with I Am Ace by Cody Daigle-Orians, but I did still really connect with what was being presented. And I know that listening to the podcast has been really impactful as well.

Overall, I’m just really enjoying this discovery that I’m not as weird or alone in the world as I thought when it came to how I felt about things. I’m glad that books like this exist, and I hope that it finds its way into the hands of people who need them…whether that is to understand their own gender or sexual identity, or understand the identity of someone they know, or just to understand more about the world in general. I think that there hasn’t been a huge amount of information out there about Asexual, Aromantic, Demisexual, and Demiromantic perspectives out there in the world, non-fiction or fiction, and the more information that gets out there, the better.

I mean, I know that I’ve gotten so very emotional when reading books and finding myself represented in the characters in a way that I haven’t before. Reading Loveless by Alice Oseman was extremely powerful for me, and I was in tears within the first 5-10 pages.

I started toying around with the idea that I might be somewhere on the Asexuality Spectrum when I was in my mid-to-late 20s. I was just about to try being open about Ace as my identity when I started dating David, and for the first time in my life I found myself feeling sexual attraction and sexual desire. It made me stop and question my identity once again. But by reading books like this one, it’s clear that I’m still very much within the spectrum of the Ace community. I’ve only ever felt that sort of sexual attraction and desire for one person, and that person is now my husband. That doesn’t change the fact that I am Ace.

I toyed with the idea of using Demisexual as my identity, but to me personally, that doesn’t seem to fit right. To me, I would fit as a Demisexual if I felt some sort of sexual attraction to more than just David after developing a close relationship with others. And I’ve considered Greysexual, a person who only experiences sexual attraction rarely or weakly. But again, to me rarely implies more than once.

I’m grateful to folks like Sarah and Kayla, who have put this information out in the world, in both podcast form and now book form. This book starts with a glossary and ends with references and an index. The chapters are broken down into aspects of life and how it relates to the Ace/Aro identity. So there are chapters on: Society, Yourself, Friendship, Romance and Partnerships, Sex, Family, Gender, and even a Miscellanea chapter. Most of the chapters are around 15-20 pages long, so they can be read pretty quickly.

So both books I’ve discussed a bit so far this month have been fun, quick, informative reads, and while there is some overlap in the information within them, I also feel like hearing it from different perspectives gives it greater odds of being understood, which can be useful.

I’m glad that I’m starting to do more research for myself to understand Asexuality better, because it really is helping me to understand myself better. It is honestly a beautiful and wonderful sensation to read a passage in a book like this and realize that it perfectly describes something that I’ve felt or experienced. It’s like the puzzle pieces just fall into place and I can see myself more clearly, and that is beautiful.

Well, that is all from me for now. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back later today with another book review, as well as back soon with more geeky content.

Weekend Writer: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel Chapters Nine and Ten by Jessica Brody

Hey all, Sam here.

Well…it has been a while since we’ve had to load up a vehicle, set up a booth for an event, work the event, and then tear everything back down and load the vehicle up again. The Downtown Summer Market was really nice…but it’s the next day and we’re feeling quite tired and sore. It was a great time, and we enjoyed getting to do this community event and meet and hang out with more people from the area.

And then today I had to go in and complete my orientation so I can start training and working for the new job. It was easy enough, just the standard benefits information, videos on things such as policies and handling harassment and such, and safety spiels. But even that little bit, after the hectic nature of yesterday, has left me quite drained. I think I’m going to try and take it easy this weekend, as much as I can anyway.

Hopefully I’ll still be able to keep up with our blog schedule as I adjust to having a full-time job outside of the house again.

Anyway, welcome back to Weekend Writer, the series where I focus on the craft of writing. On the first Friday of the month, I share a bunch of different prompts using some cool creativity aids to help spark ideas for writing or other creative works, and on the final Friday of the month, I share snippets of the writing I worked on through the month. For every Friday aside from those, we have these posts that focus on a section of a book about writing or creativity, or focus on some lecture or video or just general concept about the craft of writing.

These posts are a lot of work, but I like them, and find them to be useful. If even one other person finds a benefit to them, then I’m happy. And…let’s go ahead and get started with today’s content.

SAVE THE CAT!® by Blake Snyder is a popular screenwriting book series and storytelling methodology used by screenwriters, directors, and studio execs across Hollywood. Now, for the first time ever, bestselling author and writing teacher, Jessica Brody, takes the beloved Save the Cat! plotting principals and applies them to the craft of novel writing in this exciting new “workshop style” guide, featuring over 20 full beat sheets from popular novels throughout time.

Whether you’re writing your first novel or your seventeenth, Save the Cat! breaks down plot in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step method so you can write stories that resonate! This book can help you with any of the following:

Outlining a new novel
Revising an existing novel
Breaking out of the dreaded “writer’s block”
Fixing a “broken” novel
Reviewing a completed novel
Fleshing out/test driving a new idea to see if it “has legs”
Implementing feedback from agents and/or editors
Helping give constructive feedback to other writers

But above all else, SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL will help you better understand the fundamentals and mechanics of plot, character transformation, and what makes a story work!

Chapter Nine: Fool Triumphant – Victory of the Underdog

To state it once more, this chapter begins with a small block that lists what books are under a spoiler warning for this chapter, and I’ll keep saying how much I enjoy this particular inclusion. It’s really nice.

Okay, the Fool Triumphant, the underdog story, it’s a classic story genre/trope/theme.

Who doesn’t love a story about a victorious underdog? A poor, overlooked, cast-aside sap who rises up against those who have discounted them and proves to everyone (especially themselves) that they are worth something, dang it! They are valuable. They can and will make a difference.

page 178

So these types of stories follow an overlooked underdog whose greatest disadvantage and greatest strength is exactly because they are disregarded. That’s what sets this style of story apart from the Superhero, because the Superhero is known to be special, but our underdog, our Fool Triumphant, might not even realize their own greatness or potential.

To craft a great Fool Triumphant story, there are three necessary and important elements: 1) a fool, someone who is overlooked by society and might not even realize their own potential, 2) an establishment that the fool is in some way pitted against, and 3) a transmutation where the hero becomes someone else, adopts a new name, or gets a new mission.

Oh, and it has been mentioned a couple times already that our hero, our fool, probably doesn’t realize their own potential, and likely nobody takes them seriously or considers them to be a threat. That is not wholly true…because there is usually one person within the establishment who does recognize the threat posed by the fool and works to keep that hidden. This person is called the jealous insider, and they feel threatened by the fool and try whatever they can to sabotage the fool’s journey.

The Fool Triumphant story also features some sort of establishment…but don’t get it confused with the Institutionalized story, because the point of this story isn’t for the hero to set out to either join or destroy a group. No, the fool is just living their life, not really looking to destroy anything. Just by being themselves, the fool ends up poking holes in the system/establishment and exposing its flaws.

The final element is the transmutation, and that is the moment where the fool becomes someone else. Sometimes this is on accident and sometimes it is a disguise. They might change their name, put on a disguise, change their mission, dress up, or become a new person, even if it is only temporary. This is a key moment in the story because it is when the establishment sees the fool as less foolish than they originally thought.

The hero is essentially hiding their true identity in order to fool the people who have been disregarding them! But don’t worry; the transmutation mask never stays on for long, because in the end, all Fool Triumphant stories celebrate the idea that regardless of what others think of us, we are our strongest when we are ourselves.

page 180

Brody says that these Fool Triumphant stories resonate with readers because we have been there. At some point in our lives we’ve struggled to fit in or been the victim of doubt. Most of all we want to believe deep down that we can make a difference.

Finally, as with the rest of these story genre chapters, we are given a list of popular Fool Triumphant novels (page 181), and then pages 182-189 gives us the story beat breakdown of one of the novels.

Chapter Ten: Buddy Love – The Transformative Power of Love (or Friendship)

Again, we begin the chapter with the inclusion of the block with the books being discussed/spoiled within the chapter.

Welcome to the Buddy Love story. While it would be easy to think that this chapter covers romance stories (and it does a little bit), that is only the surface of the story genre.

But love stories don’t always deal with romance. Yes, more romance novels do fit into this category, but our genre dubbed Buddy Love goes beyond just romantic love and, in fact, umbrellas every kind of love, from romance to friendship to even the love of a pet.

This genre is defined by its key characteristic: stories in which our hero is changed by someone else.

page 192

Brody says that Buddy Love stories are about completion, one person being made whole by another, or one person bringing about a change that the hero desperately needs.

Now, that doesn’t mean that all stories with kissing in them automatically fit into this genre. What decides that is the distinction between your A Story and B Story. (Remember those from a previous chapter?) In Buddy Love stories, the A Story IS the love story, and the B Story is often the side story or side characters who represent the journey the hero is on. For non-Buddy Love stories, the love story/friendship is the B Story instead.

Okay, so what three elements do we need for a successful Buddy Love story? 1) an incomplete hero, 2) a counterpart, and 3) a complication.

First up, the incomplete hero. So, while most Buddy Love stories will have a focus on two people and their relationship, there is usually one of the pair that needs more work to get on track with everything, and will require the most change and growth.

If the Buddy Love story is in first person, then more than likely that person is your primary hero, and you’ve probably gone this way because you want the readers to get inside the character to experience this journey. For a third person story, your primary hero is the one you focus on just a little bit more.

Now, Brody does point out that there can be exceptions. If both sides of the pairing are equally changed by the story then it is considered a two-hander, and the author usually gives two perspectives to match that two-handed concept.

No matter who the main focus is, the point is that they are in need of change, and the other half of the pairing is what will help them make that change happen. That is your counterpart, the second aspect of making a great Buddy Love story.

Often the counterpart or buddy is a little quirky, a little unique. There has to be something about this exciting new person that’s going to shake things up for our hero, which means they can’t be dull or ordinary. They have to be worth an entire Catalyst! The introduction of this other has got to rip our hero right out of their stasis = death slump and into the second act!

page 196

Finally, the third element, a complication. This is something that keeps the pair apart, at least for now. This could be a love triangle situation, which Brody refers to as a three-hander. Or it could be some sort of physical or emotional complication. Or it could be some sort of misunderstanding or a clash of character.

The important thing is that this complication is the primary conflict of the story, because without conflict, there is nothing to stop your friendship/romance/partnership from running off into the sunset of happy-ever-after.

That complication can be a tricky thing. It can pull buddies together and drive them apart. And often the complication leads to an All Is Lost beat in which the two lovers or friends actually do break up, separate, or have some kind of huge fight. Since the All Is Lost is defined as the lowest point of the story, this separation beat is often found in Buddy Love novels, because what’s lower than losing the one you’ve grown to love? Buddies need this beat so that they can realize what they truly have and figure out how to fix their flaws (that is, learn the theme!) in order to save the relationship (or themselves!).

page 197-198

Have I ever talked about how much I dislike the breakup portion of romance stories? Sometimes I just want to read about the couple growing closer together while facing complications and issues from outside the relationship, instead of there almost always being some misunderstanding or fight that makes the couple breakup for a short period of time. But I do see and understand that this beat in the story makes them realize their true feelings for each other and they come back together a bit stronger and more understanding.

Whether romantic in nature or not, Buddy Love stories are about how a life is changed because of having known another.

Pages 198-199 include a list of popular Buddy Love novels, and Pages 199-207 gives the story beat breakdown of one of them.

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.

Book Review: Out of Character by Jenna Miller

Hey all, Sam here.

Well…today has been a very eventful day, and that’s why today’s post is up so late. I was awakened at 8am by my phone ringing, which led to me having a job interview at noon (I got the job), and my orientation is tomorrow and then I start next week. And then after that David and I loaded up our car and our friend’s car to get all set up for the local Downtown Summer Market which ran from 3pm to 9pm. Afterwards we had to break it all down before we could head home.

So it has been a very busy day, and since the job interview part was unexpected, I didn’t have the chance to get this post prepped up before Downtown Summer Market.

That basically means….sorry for the late post today. Anyway, let’s go ahead and get started.

If you asked seventeen-year-old Cass Williams to describe herself, she’d happily tell you she’s fat, queer, and obsessed with the Tide Wars books. What she won’t tell you—or anyone in her life—is that she’s part of an online Tide Wars roleplay community. Sure, it’s nerdy as hell, but when she’s behind the screen writing scenes as Captain Aresha, she doesn’t have to think about her mother who walked out or how unexpectedly stressful it is dating resident cool girl Taylor Cooper.

But secretly retreating to her online life is starting to catch up with Cass. For one, no one in her real life knows her secret roleplay addiction is the reason her grades have taken a big hit. Also? Cass has started catching feelings for Rowan Davies, her internet bestie…and Taylor might be catching on.

As Cass’s lies continue to build, so does her anxiety. Roleplaying used to be the one place she could escape to, but this double life and offline-online love triangle have only made things worse. Cass must decide what to do—be honest and risk losing her safe space or keep it a secret and put everything else on the line.

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

Based on the title and the synopsis of this book, I was primed to love it and have it be one of those books that I love and gush about because I’m this kind of geek girl myself. Thankfully this book didn’t disappoint, but it didn’t fully “wow” me either.

For the most part, I did enjoy Cass as a character. I understood her pull towards fandom and how it became this refuge from the chaotic anxiety filled mess that is the “real world.” My big issue with Cass was the way she handled the whole starting to have feelings for my internet bestie/roleplaying partner while dating someone else. I mean, sure, sometimes people don’t handle things well; that’s life and we’re all human and we make mistakes.

But it very much felt like emotional cheating. Yes, Cass had a stronger and deeper relationship with Rowan, and if you put all three girls together as a love triangle situation, I’d definitely have been rooting for Cass and Rowan, but Cass was actually dating Taylor and then kept lying about things like what she was doing when she was roleplaying, and even about her friendship with Rowan.

I will also say that Cass’s relationship with fandom and roleplay was interesting. It’s not a spoiler to say that it was an addiction for her, because it is mentioned in the book synopsis. I’ve actually been there before, going on to the roleplay forums and spending hours and hours writing these scenes and stories with other folks from all over. Yes, granted, mine never turned into something that affected my education or my relationships with friends or family, but still, it was relatable to have that drive to escape into fantasy all the time.

Oh, and speaking of escaping into fantasy and relationships with friends, this book also hit me hard and hurt me because one aspect was a little too close to events I’ve lived through…namely having a friend or a group of friends starting to pursue something else and it leading to them basically moving on from this world and story you’d been building up together. They either don’t respond to messages or they cancel on scheduled plans at the last minute because things came up…and it doesn’t feel great. When you make a plan to get together and indulge in a fictional world together at a certain time, you expect the friend group to follow through. And when they don’t it can really really hurt.

So, I liked this book. Overall it didn’t take me super long to read. And, oh, Cass’s parents–particularly her dad–are both fairly active in this story and parts of Cass’s life, which was nice. It’s a decent glimpse at the relationship some have with fantasy and sci-fi and roleplay. The story and the characters were good and relatable, but in the end it didn’t blow me away like I was hoping it would. I’d still recommend it if it sounds interesting to you. There are sections of the book that are the roleplay scenes that Cass and her friends write together, and some pages are the non-RP conversations the friend group have.

Well that is all from me for today. Weekend Writer is coming tomorrow, and I’m excited to delve into Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody some more. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

WIP Wednesday

Hey all, Sam and David here.

I am so glad that I started getting this post prepped on Monday…because David and I stayed up really really late last night playing Diablo IV (like it was 4:30am) when we turned off the gaming systems and went up to bed. Whoops.

Anyway, welcome back to WIP Wednesday. For those who don’t know WIP stands for Work In Progress, and this series is one we put out each Wednesday to update what we’ve been doing the past week, whether that is reading, writing, gaming, 3D printing, or whatever other shenanigans we get up to. These weekly check-ins help us keep track of everything we get into because some weeks it is a lot of stuff.

Speaking of, it has been a pretty busy week, so let’s go ahead and get started.

Sam

Reading: The Grimoire of Grave Fates created by Hanna Alkaf and Margaret Owen, Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne, Morgan is my Name by Sophie Keetch.

I always like to start off with my reading section. In the past week I managed to read Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne, and I’ll definitely have to pick up the sequel as soon as I can manage it, because I find that I rather enjoy cozy fantasy stories. I also managed to read The Grimoire of Grave Fates created by Hanna Alkaf and Margaret Owen, and Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch, both of which were NetGalley Reads. I will be getting their reviews up soon. I can also say that Grimoire is an anthology, and it came out this week, so you can get your hands on this magical school murder mystery collection.

I suppose I should also just go ahead and mention what my current reads are…although obviously I’m not going to get much reading time today or tomorrow (because of Diablo IV), but that’s okay.

Here’s what I’m in the middle of, because yes, I absolutely do read multiple books at once: A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato, The Study of Poisons by Maria V. Snyder, and Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool. I feel like I’m doing a pretty decent job at the moment of working my way through some of my NetGalley reads, which means I will be having more and more NetGalley Reviews coming up on the blog. Both Beth Cato’s and Katy Rose Pool’s books are NetGalley reads, and Cato’s book is actually already out in the world. And I had to pick up this Maria V. Snyder release because I have loved the Chronicles of Ixia series for many years, and it’s fun to go back and read the beginning of it all over again but from a different perspective.

Watching: “Bones” Season 5, Season 6, Season 7, Season 8 (in progress), “Shadowhunters” Season 3, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” “The Little Mermaid” (live action with my mom), “The Little Mermaid” (animated with David)

Because my mom was in town, we watched a lot of “Bones.” It’s an easy show to just put on and have playing in the background. It’s familiar enough for us that we don’t have to pay super close attention, but entertaining enough that we can just sit and binge it if we feel like it. Most of Season 5 and Season 6 was watched while she was visiting…and then I just kept watching after she left.

Writing: Umm…I’ve thought about my stories in the past week, and I’m currently trying to figure out which project to focus on for Camp NaNoWriMo in July…I’m thinking either Harbingers of Death or Sink Your Teeth Into Some Good Books.

Now these are both working titles, but Harbingers is basically a Valkyrie and a Banshee meet and then keep running into each other on the battlefield and off, and follows the relationship that forms from it all. And then Sink Your Teeth is a cozy paranormal/fantasy about a woman who decides to become a vampire so she has the time to get through her TBR and also spends her time traveling to different bookish aesthetic locations because she can.

I’m liking the idea for both of them. Harbingers feels like it’s going to end up with a f/f relationship and at the moment I’m thinking Sink Your Teeth is just going to focus on platonic relationships, although side characters might have romances and such. I don’t know.

But I don’t know which one to focus on…or do I work on both and just bounce back and forth depending on which one I want to write each day?

Other: So, while my mom was here we went bowling, and as it turned out there was a special going on, so we got two games for only $5 each. This photo is from the first game of the two. Then we went to this awesome local wine bar that sadly was closing and mom just happened to visit on its final weekend, so we went for one last charcuterie board and a couple rounds of drinks. I finally got to take her to the local coffee shop that we really like going to. They had a lemon cappuccino as a current special and I tried it, and it was surprisingly very lemony but also pretty tasty. And mom had looked up this nature preserve with some hiking trails and a few caves, so we decided to check that out. It was fun…but probably would have been better if we hadn’t gone right after a rain, because it was muggy and the bugs were everywhere. Oh well. It was still a fun time.

Oh…and we’re trying to finish off a Pathfinder 2E Session Zero/One-Shot so we can bring another player into our Beginner Box campaign, so that’s where our evening is being spent today…and if that finishes early enough then we’ll probably play some more Diablo IV.

David

Okay so I don’t have as much going on, but at the same time a lot going on. Been focused a lot on getting prints through the printers.

Printing: Been printing a bunch of the cinderwings toys in a bunch of different colors in preparation. It has been consuming a lot of our time making sure we are all set up for summer market.

Gaming: The other big reason why its been busy is the couple of games that have come out recently that we are playing. I am playing Tears of the Kingdom still quite a bit, or at least I was until we got our copies of Diablo 4 yesterday.

So many quest and so little time we managed to play for over 12 hours and there is still so much to do and we are excited to keep it going. We got to get back to it here soon. I chose to start of playing a Rogue and Sam started off playing the Druid. Both are fun so far and have only just finished the Act 1 of the story.

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