Danielle Thamasa's Blog, page 31

Weekend Writer: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: Chapter Two – The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet aka The End of All Your Plotting Problems by Jessica Brody

Hey all, Sam here.

So my plan had been to make today’s Weekend Writer post cover the next two chapters of the book, but considering that Chapter Two is over 50 pages long, I feel like that would end up being way too long…which means that I’m going to go for another double dose of Weekend Writer this week…and that might continue throughout this book. I like making the deep dive take one or two months instead of three or four. One book every one to two months means that I can get through 6-12 books on writing craft in a year.

I hope that is okay with all of you…not that many of you are out there reading these posts. But for the few of you who are reading these, I hope they are useful to you. At the very least, they are helpful for me, though, which is really cool. I like continually learning about writing, both ways that enhance how I already write, but also I’ve always found it useful to study other approaches to writing too. Sometimes you’ll see something from another perspective and you can adapt it into your own method, and honestly it always feels like a victory to add another tool into your writing toolbox.

Anyway, so far, after reading a whopping two chapters (plus an introduction), I’m feeling really good about this book on writing, and it’s actually making me want to dive into my own writing projects and see how I can improve upon what I’ve already done and how to make my writing life easier going forward.

Let’s go ahead and jump into the breakdown for Chapter Two of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody.

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 Two: The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet aka The End of All Your Plotting Problems

First, I know I mentioned this last week with the first chapter, but again, this chapter includes a spoiler announcement, letting you know every fiction book that will be talked about and spoiled within the chapter, which is just very respectful and cool. I like it.

As Brody starts this chapter, she compares writing a novel to a long cross-country road trip, and she talks about how it feels overwhelming to think about a trip from San Francisco to New York, much like when writing a novel you think “I have to write how many pages” or “I have to write how many words.” But in the end you can’t think that way. For a road trip, you just think about what distance you have to cover for each day or each leg of your journey, and for writing a novel you can break it down by act or by chapter or by scene.

I think this concept really fascinates me because I have done long trips like this. While working with Colorworld and doing conventions, I had to be in Boston for a convention one weekend, and then the next weekend I needed to be in Seattle for another convention. It was a lot of very long days in the van, and you know you’re going not going to get a lot of sleep in an actual bed–made even worse for me since I don’t sleep well in most vehicles, but especially not a fully-loaded cargo van, and every pit stop is only going to be for a few minutes, just long enough to fill up the gas tank, go to the bathroom, and grab a very quick bite to eat. Granted, yes, this was for work. I’m sure if I was planning a cross-country road trip as a vacation, I’d have a much nicer time, and I’d probably make several stops at museums or tourist attractions or whatever.

Thankfully, when it comes to writing a novel, we have boos like this one to keep us on the right course, so we don’t veer off into random detours and such. That is why this chapter is focused on the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet, the basic breakdown of your novel into a three-act structure with different story beats within each act that will set your characters and your plot up for success.

Your beat sheet (or novel road map) can be as detailed or as sparse as you want. You can use the beat sheet before you start writing, somewhere in the middle, when you’re feeling lost, or not until you’ve finished your first draft and are going back to revise. Like I said before, I’m not here to change your process; I’m here to enhance it. The structure has to be added in at some point. And this, my friends, is your structure cheat sheet.

Read it. Learn it. Love it!

The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet is divided into three acts (or parts), which are further subdivided into fifteen total beats (or plot points).

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Act 1

Opening Image (o%-1%)Theme Stated (5%)Setup (1%-10%)Catalyst (10%)Debate (10%-20%)

Act 2

Break Into 2 (20%)B Story (22%)Fun and Games (20%-50%)Midpoint (50%)Bad Guys Close In (50%-75%)All is Lost (75%)Dark Night of the Soul (75%-80%)

Act 3

Break Into 3 (80%)Finale (80%-99%)Final Image (99%-100%)

There it is…and Brody decided to go with percentages instead of word count or page count, because this structure can be used for short stories, novellas, and novels of all sizes. Obviously the midpoint will be in a different place for a 350 page novel versus an 800 page epic fantasy novel. So percentages work better all around.

Act One

A three act structure is nothing new; a lot of stories follow this basic outline. But Brody suggest that we look at it another way, not as acts, but more like worlds or states of being, and your hero–you know, the one we worked on with Chapter One last week, they’ll have to travel through these worlds to become who they need to for the story.

Act One is the place where the hero begins. In it we see the status quo of things in the beginning, where the hero is at the start of their journey, before anything and everything starts to change for them.

1. Opening Image

This first point provides a brief snapshot of your hero and the world they are a part of. This should be the first 1% of your story, the opening scene or chapter. The opening image introduces the reader to the hero, and helps them to understand what kind of person they are and what kind of a journey they’re about to go on. It also will set the tone for the story, as well as giving an idea for the style and the mood. This will let the reader know if it will be suspenseful or funny.

Brody emphasizes though that this is an opening image, and that it gives us a view of the hero, a visual representation of their flawed life. Don’t open with an inner monologue or an info dump. Open to the flawed hero in action. Show the reader how those flaws are messing with the hero’s life.

Note that this particular beat has a mirror beat, aka the Final Image at the end, which bookmarks the story, and the beats should be completely different…because your hero will have been on a journey that has changed them.

It should also be noted that this is a single-scene beat. It isn’t meant to take that long. Other beats will be multi-scene beats, but this one is mean to just give an idea of how things are at the beginning.

2. Theme Stated

On to beat two, which is meant to briefly allude to the transformative journey the hero will take and what flaws they will eventually conquer, and this will go somewhere in the first 5-10% of your story.

Often this hint at the journey that is about to happen or the lesson that is to be learned will come from a secondary character. Here’s the important part…it will be subtly mentioned, just enough to plant a tiny seed in the reader’s brain. Your hero might not even really pay attention to it. What matters is that there is a little hint for the reader as to what the story is really about, what the theme is.

So, there’s your flawed hero. They’re traipsing around the Act 1 world, being flawed, making stupid decisions, generally leading an imperfect life, and then someone (usually a secondary character) comes up to them and says, “You know what would really fix your life? This!“

Your hero is essentially presented with the answer to all of their problems right there at the beginning of the book. But do they listen?

Of course not!

They completely, 100-percent ignore this person. Because at the start of the novel, your hero is resistant to change. They hear the theme stated and they go, “What the heck does he know? He doesn’t know me.” That’s why it’s often best to have the theme stated by a secondary character–a passerby, a fellow traveler on the bus, a nemesis–as opposed to someone close to your hero. This is by no means a hard-and-fast rule, but it’s easier for a reader to believe that the hero would ignore the theme if it’s stated by a stranger or someone the hero doesn’t necessarily know or trust.

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People don’t change because someone tells them to change. It happens when they begin to see their flaws for themselves, and it makes them go on a transformative journey. So as a writer we have to make that journey believable.

3. Setup

This point simply sets up your hero’s life and the status quo of their world before everything changes for them, and this will take up the first 10% of the story. This is a multi-scene beat, so you have time to establish everything that is needed for this beat.

The setup is pretty important. You have to establish your hero, what kind of person they are, what their goals and wants are. And you also have to set up the characters of their beginning world. These are your A Story characters, which means they represent that external story (the A Story). This section is also where you show the hero’s flaws and how they affect all aspects of the hero’s life.

In case you don’t remember from Chapter One, your hero needs to have flaws. They cannot be someone who is perfect. You need to show all the flaws of the hero and their world. Showcasing this gives the readers an idea of what all needs to be changed and addressed throughout the story.

And the hero can’t stay in this part of their life, this part of their world forever. The setup also needs to showcase the need for change to come their way. If something doesn’t happen soon then the hero is pretty much doomed.

This is called the stasis = death moment. It’s the moment that comes somewhere in the Setup beat that shows the reader that change is imperative; otherwise, things are going south. Fast.

Whether you employ a specific stasis = death moment or you just impart a general sense of urgency, without the obvious need for change in the hero’s life, it’s difficult to get your reader to continue on the rest of the journey with you. So it’s your job, in the Setup, to plant the seed in the reader’s mind that change is crucial. That staying in this status quo world for much longer just isn’t an option.

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This stasis = death moment leads us to the next story beat…

4. Catalyst

The Catalyst disrupts the status quo world with some sort of life-changing event, and takes place around the 10% mark of your story.

So after spending the beginning setting up your hero and the world, this is when you change it up, knock it down, and cause a scene.

Catalysts often come in the form of bad news (a letter in the mail, a phone call, a death, getting fired, being diagnosed with a deadly disease). Not always, but often. Why? Because most people won’t change their ways until something bad happens. Bad news often paves the way to good things. Without any bad news, your hero would be perfectly content just going about their flawed little life, being their flawed little self. Maybe even forever! But would your reader be just as content? No. Your reader wants to see something happen. They want action. They want a twist. They want drama.

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This is a single scene beat where something happens to change the hero’s path. Something happens to the hero. This event is a wake up call, a way to open their eyes and change their worldview. The Catalyst needs to be BIG. Conflict makes for good story. You want the reader to think “Whoa” when the Catalyst happens.

If you wonder if your Catalyst is big enough, just think about if your hero can go back to their old life after it. If they can go back to what they were doing, then the Catalyst wasn’t big enough.

5. Debate

The final beat of Act One shows how your hero is resistant to change and/or it prepares your hero for the break into Act Two, and it should be at roughly the 10-20% mark.

But why do heroes debate? Why can’t they just get their life-changing news and move on? Because it’s not realistic. Pondering and weighing options and gathering more information is what we do as humans and heroes. Remember, no one accepts change right away. No one goes, Oh well, I guess my status quo life didn’t work out after all; time to change my ways!

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Again, this is a multi-scene beat. It shows how the hero is resistant to the change that has been thrown at them. Now, sometimes the debate isn’t about a decision about whether or not to stay or go. Take Katniss in The Hunger Games. After volunteering in her sister’s place for the Hunger Games, there’s no turning back, no deciding not to go. The debate section for Katniss is in the preparation and training to enter the arena.

Things are changing for the hero. And whether they are debating about acting or not acting, or they are preparing for the journey, the next part of the story is going to be something completely different for them.

Okay…so yeah, I’m realizing that this is going to take quite a bit more time to type up, and it’s going to end up very long….so I’m going to pause in the middle of Chapter Two here.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the rest of Chapter Two, and then I’ll come back on Sunday with Chapter Three…so you’re getting a whole weekend of Weekend Writer. That’ll be fun.

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: Critical Role: The Mighty Nein: The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux (and narrated by Robbie Daymond and the cast of Critical Role)

Hey all, Sam here.

Here we are at our 100th day of posting in a row, a 100 day streak, and wow…that’s pretty cool and pretty impressive. And I didn’t know what I wanted to do for today’s post. Part of me wanted to do something special, but I also realized that I didn’t have time to really go all out for a celebratory post.

But I can do a review for a book that I read twice last year…and by that I mean that I read the e-book and then I listened to the audiobook a week later with David, so it’s like a double review, and I guess that could be considered pretty special for a 100 day streak post.

I will preface this by saying that I love Critical Role. If you’re new around this blog, I have been a Critter since practically the beginning, and I have watched everything they’ve put out (sometimes multiple times) and I have read everything they’ve released (again, sometimes multiple times). I love the characters and the world and the lore. So, yes, before even going into this, I knew I would probably enjoy this and give it a high rating.

Okay, with that being said, let’s go ahead and jump into the review.

Delve into the mind of Critical Role’s most charming villain in this original novel that chronicles Lucien’s early life and his fateful meeting with the Mighty Nein.

Lucien has always been able to spin a bad situation to his advantage. From his childhood on the dangerous streets of Shadycreek Run to his years living off the grid and learning blood magic from the Claret Orders, the charismatic blood hunter will find a way to get the upper hand.

When Lucien is on a job in the frozen wastelands of Eiselcross with his fellow mercenaries, a rough-and-tumble crew called the Tombtakers, fate leads him to a mysterious journal in the ruins of an ancient city. The book speaks of the Somnovem, nine beings who can grant Lucien power beyond imagining—if he is able to find them and free them from captivity.

Intrigued by this opportunity, Lucien pores over the journal—but the more he reads, the stranger things become. The nine whisper to him in dreams and waking visions. Time slips away, along with Lucien’s grasp on reality. And tattoos of red eyes begin appearing on his skin. . . .

With the ability to reshape the world within his grasp, Lucien ignores all warning signs. He has always bent fortune to his will, and nothing—not even death—will stop him now.

Written by New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux, Critical Role: The Mighty Nein—The Nine Eyes of Lucien explores the meteoric rise and fall of one of Critical Role’s most notorious and tragic figures.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

FIRST, I need to say…SPOILERS for Campaign Two of Critical Role. If you don’t want to be spoiled for the Mighty Nein campaign, then don’t even bother reading this review. Come back later. It’s not going anywhere. I will try not to do specific spoilers for the book, but I don’t know that I can avoid talking about the campaign.

This was such a fascinating dive into Lucien’s life, from his childhood, to his death, to his rebirth and all of his encounters with the Mighty Nein, as well as what happens in between those encounters.

Watching Campaign 2, we got a pretty good idea of Mollymauk’s brief life, but so much of what happened before that was a mystery, and even after Mollymauk’s death, after Lucien the original personality within the body was brought back, we all wondered about what had happened before, what led him down this path, and we especially wondered what was going on with Lucien and the Tombtakers when they weren’t with the Mighty Nein.

This book definitely delivers on giving us that information. Robbie Daymond does fantastic as our narrator and all the characters who would basically be considered NPCs. The cast of Critical Role all reprise their Mighty Nein roles, with Matthew Mercer taking on the voice of Lucien. It was especially interesting to listen to the voices of the Somnovem—or read it because it was all done in different fonts and it added to the wonderfully creepy vibe of the story. Honestly, I really recommend doing the audiobooks for these Critical Role tie-in novels because it is a full experience, and it is so easy to listen to.

I loved learning about Lucien and Cree’s younger years, their time in Shadycreek Run, their time in the Claret Orders learning how to be blood hunters, and to see the events that led to Lucien working with Vess DeRogna, to encountering the Somnovem, and I especially loved knowing what was going on with Lucien after running into the Mighty Nein time and time again on their way to/through Eiselcross.

My favorite part was getting those glimpses to what was going on with the Nonagon during that final fight with the Mighty Nein. It was something I had fully suspected when I had watched that climactic battle, and it was wonderful to see my suspicions confirmed.

All in all, I really enjoyed the experience, and I can’t wait to see what Critical Role novel is the next to come.

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 – May 10

Hey all, Sam and David here.

It’s the middle of the week again, already. We have a game night with a fellow geek couple later, and it should be pretty fun. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to play, but we normally have one longer game and a couple of quick play games to choose from each time we get together.

We did some necessary adulting today, like getting an oil change and check-up on our car, and we picked up some supplies and stuff that we need for an upcoming camping trip. There are a few different Ren Faire options here in Iowa, but they are usually very short runs, like 1-3 weekends long, which is weird for us because we’re used to the Labor Day Weekend-Halloween Weekend event that is Ohio Renaissance Festival. But the Renaissance Faire at Sleepy Hollow in Iowa has a one weekend Spring Fling event coming May 20-21st and we got our schedules arranged so that we can go to both days. It is going to be so nice to dress in garb and run around the grounds, even though it is going to be a different faire than the one we’re used to.

But one of the really cool things about the Renaissance Faire at Sleepy Hollow is that there is an option to pay for a camping space for the night…and a $20 lot for a tent is way better than spending like $80 for a hotel stay. It’s also useful since this Spring Fling event also has a Renaissance After Dark event that runs 6pm-Midnight and is supposed to be a little more risque. We won’t be able to share photos from that portion of the event though, as photos/videos are not allowed.

Still, we’re really looking forward to this. We didn’t get the chance to go to the Ohio Renaissance Festival last year, and we don’t know if we’ll be able to go this year because of conventions and availability. And we’re already trying to make plans for Faire visits for next year, so we’ll see what happens.

Anyway, let’s go ahead and get into our weekly check-in of everything we’ve been reading, watching, and doing since last week.

Sam

All right, not as jam packed as last week, but still a pretty eventful wrap-up this time around. Let’s get started with my portion.

Reading: Compared to last week, I definitely don’t have as big of a reading update, but that’s to be expected. Last week I had a readathon. But still, three books isn’t too bad: Sounds Fake But Okay: An Asexual and Aromantic Perspective on Love, Relationships, Sex, and Pretty Much Anything Else by Sarah Costello and Kayla Kaszyca, The Warden by Daniel M. Ford, and Dragonfall by L.R. Lam.

I’m hoping to get back to my daily reading plan again, so I can keep up with some of my NetGalley reads…so I can continue getting my regular blog posts up. Did you know that tomorrow will be our 100 day streak post? I think that’s pretty impressive.

But I can say that I’ve been enjoying the fantasy books I’ve been reading, and these non-fiction books I’ve been reading about asexuality have been really educational and eye-opening. I’m going to try and write up reviews for them, but I’m going to have to take the time to get the reviews right, because they are so emotional for me.

Watching: “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” Season 5 (in progress), “Arrow” Season 5, Season 6, and Season 7 (in progress), “The Flash” Season 4 and Season 5 (in progress), “Critical Role” Campaign 3, “Star Wars: Clone Wars” Season 2 and Season 3 (in progress), and “The Amazing Spider-Man.”

Based on the re-watching I’ve been doing, can I just say that Season 6 of “Arrow” and Season 4 of “The Flash” both felt just meh to me. They both had very similar arcs for the eponymous characters and I connected with the seasons less than any of the others. And I’m still feeling overall meh about the final season of “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel,” although last week’s Suzie focused episode was probably the best of the season.

Writing: Okay, I haven’t really done much of anything when it comes to actual writing in the past week. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been thinking about the characters and the stories. I have, but I need to get back to a schedule of making myself sit down once or twice a day for 15-30 minutes just to write. It was doing really well for me before now, especially during Camp NaNoWriMo.

I guess I did do a couple bullet points in the overall plotting for the in-game portion of Roll for Romance, which technically would count as writing. Basically I can’t really do much in regards to plotting, because if I go too in detail on writing down my ideas and plots and such then my mind feels like I’ve written the story already and I have next to no motivation to actually write the story. So bullet points are about the best I can do if I want to actually write a book.

Other: Well, we went bowling yesterday, so that counts as an “other” category activity. I’ve also been babysitting David’s 3D printers more, although they have been very temperamental lately, and David has had to do lots of fixes and adjustments and work on them to get them to run properly, which has caused some frustration.

Oh, we did have that game night last Wednesday, and we ended up playing Happy Little Dinosaurs, and that was pretty fun, but other than that we just socialized with our friends and that was really nice.

And several days ago we had a series of storms come through the area, and on one of the days the wind knocked over a pole that led to internet issues around the town…so since I couldn’t binge any of my streaming channels, I turned on my ol’ SEGA Genesis and played some games, like “Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine,” “Aladdin,” and “Sonic Spinball.” I am very out of practice with pretty much all of my classic games, so I didn’t do well with any of them, but I guess I’ll just have to try and play them more in future so I can stop being so rusty.

David

Sorry this post came so late guys, I have been really focused on trying to fix the 3d printers for the last couple of days and keep having other things I need to do. I honestly wish i had a more eventful WIP Wednesday for you all, but It was not too much of a productive week for me this week.

Printing: The progress is slow but I am steadily getting all the printers up and running. Melinda is being picky and I am having trouble figuring out why she does not want to stay heated up once the printing has begun.

Printicus has had a few parts replaced finally and is in the testing phase right now, I replaced the entire hotend and the filament feeder sections. So now the feeder for filament is a metal one that wont break like the last one did on Alphonse.

I am hoping the repairs are not too complicated as we have a show we plan to do with a buddy of ours for the local summer market. I look forward to seeing what all cool crafts and foods the people in our hometown are gonna have.

Gaming: Not much on the gaming front this week I am afraid. Though I am in the middle of playing through Infamous, one of my favorite old PS3 games and Cult of the Lamb on my switch. I do not know how much longer I will devote to them for a bit since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is releasing Friday.

So for those that do not know me, The Legend of Zelda series is my most favorite gaming franchise and has been for most of the time I have been playing video games. I hope that this love of the series does not stop any time soon.

Infamous is actually my next game review, its an older game but I know there are some who still have not played it so I am making sure to put some hours into it enough to give it a proper review. Cult of the Lamb is getting some high praises so far as the mix of creep factor and adorable animals makes me just want to keep playing it.

Also tried playing an H-Game for the first time and got to say if the next scene is anything like the first one I came across, I will not be playing the game any farther. I like the artwork and the concept of the game got me intrigued but there are certain things I draw the line at and this game was zero to nine thousand real quick on the NO.

I think that is all I have for now, I am hoping to have some pictures of some prints for you guys next time. Hopefully I will be able to make some progress on the Goblin Slayer cosplay. Stay nerdy guys and I wish you all luck on whatever adventures await you! NIGHT!

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

Tabletop Tuesday: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Monopoly

Hey all, Sam and David here.

Hopefully at this point, you all realize that we are both huge geeks. We own a pretty nicely sized tabletop game collection in our home. Our dining room is primarily a game room, not an eating room—-we mostly eat on TV trays in the living room. Our dining room also houses a couple bookcases filled with TTRPG books, and there’s a whole corner of our basement that is all TTRPG terrain and minis.

Of course, this also doesn’t include our library, our collection of DVDs, TV series, and various video games, or any of our other collectibles. We take our geekery seriously in our house. It’s our love of these kinds of things that leads to us going to conventions, whether that’s comic cons, anime cons, or gaming cons. There’s only three months to go until Gen Con and we are super excited to see what new games we can play and/or purchase. Don’t worry, we’ll be posting all about our convention experience on our social media accounts and then an overall wrap-up post here on the blog for the Tabletop Tuesday following Gen Con (so August 8th).

Anyway, welcome back to another Tabletop Tuesday. We’re working on putting together another TTRPG focused post, but it wasn’t ready in time, so we’re going to talk about a classic board game with a modern fandom twist. Let’s get started.

INSPIRED BY THE DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES MOVIE: Adventure through the Forgotten Realms with the Monopoly Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves game, inspired by the D&D movieRELIVE FAVORITE MOMENTS FROM THE FILM: Players set forth on a quest around the Forgotten Realms gameboard, featuring key locations from the movie. The one who collects the most gold winsPLAY AS D&D MOVIE CHARACTERS: Choose from 5 tokens, each representing a character from the film, and pair it with a matching Character card. Each character has a special ability, giving players an edgeD20 DIE AND ADVENTURE CARDS: Players land on a location and reveal an Adventure card, then roll the 20-sided die to decide their fate! Will they secure the location or fail and pay a heavy price?MIND THE MONSTERS: Find useful objects and powerful spells in the Magic & Mystery Deck, but beware of iconic D&D monsters, Red Wizards, and backstabbing roguesCUSTOMIZE THE GAME: Level up with the Dungeon Master deck for customized or advanced mode of play! Use these cards to change certain locations and adventures, and to add more monsters to the perilous questGREAT GIFT FOR D&D FANS: This Dungeons & Dragons board game makes a great gift for Dungeons & Dragons fans, Monopoly game fans, gamers, teens, and kids ages 8 and upOur Thoughts

We played this last week at a game night with friends. It has been discussed before, but we have regular hangout nights with a fellow geek couple and we usually play a couple co-op video games or some other tabletop games, eat some good food and have a drink or two. It’s a pretty fun time overall, and I think we all really look forward to it. Actually we’re having another game night tomorrow, so that’ll be fun.

Anyway, we’re all pretty familiar with Monopoly in a variety of different forms. This version is not the Dungeons & Dragons Monopoly, but is instead its own game inspired by the recent movie, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” so it has its own unique gameplay.

There are fewer properties available on this game board. And instead of having a Chance deck and a Community deck, there is only a Magic & Mystery deck…which we all landed on quite a bit in the beginning, so that was interesting. But we never did come across any of the monsters in the deck, just items and spells.

You can choose to play as Edgin the Bard, Holga the Barbarian, Simon the Sorcerer, Doric the Druid, or Xenk the Paladin…and each character has its own useful ability that can have an effect on game play. We actually enjoyed this because it made choosing your player piece have a little more weight than just “which one do I like best?”

We can also say that the whole group agreed that a few of the character pieces were kind of difficult to pick up off the board and move around, so we’re probably going to make little stands for them, ones similar to the magic weapons from our D&D minis.

The game also comes with a lot of cardboard coins for your money, which is in 10 gold and 50 gold pieces. We didn’t like the cardboard ones at all. Thankfully David had a bunch of 3D printed coins (which you can see in the image above), so we decided to use those instead…and honestly we really loved being able to toss a small stack of coins at each other to pay for things.

— Side note…if you’d like your own set of coins, David is authorized to print them for sale…so you can get Dwarven coins, Elven coins, etc…just contact him on social media, @freestateofgeek on Instagram or Twitter, and he can get them printed and shipped to you.

Also, you don’t have to buy the properties the traditional way of Monopoly, although you certainly can buy them that way. This version of Monopoly allows you to take on an adventure to win the property. You pay to reveal the adventure and then you get to roll a d20. Your result will tell you if you succeed and get to add the property to your collection, or if you fail and have to face a penalty.

Finally, you don’t lose when you run out of money. Instead you in essence die and must be revived. This, again, involves the d20 and you have to roll to respawn. If you succeed then you are granted a small amount of money from the bank and you can play on. If you fail then your turn is over and you can try again next time around. This is an interesting mechanic, but none of us played ruthlessly enough to lead to a need for resurrection.

All in all, it was a fun twist on a classic game. We can’t say that we would play it all the time, but it’s fun for the occasional game adventure.

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: The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent Vol 3 by Yuka Tachibana and Fujiazuki

Hey all, Sam here.

It is Monday once again, and as per usual, we are starting the week with Manga Monday, the series on the blog where we talk about manga each week, typically with a review of a volume of manga…although there might be occasional anime chats or something coming in future. We’ll see.

So for the past few weeks I’ve been chatting about a couple of the cool female-led isekai stories I found in the past few months that I really want to chat about, and I’m excited to keep reading both of these series because they’ve been really entertaining and cute.

Without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive into the review.

The land of Salutania needed a savior, but Sei didn’t get chosen for the job. Stranded in an unfamiliar world, she wound up finding all kinds of ways to keep busy: potion-making, enchanting, and accidentally romancing a handsome knight! Deep down, though, Sei always knew she had the power of a Saint. When she reveals that power by regenerating a wounded man’s missing arm, will her peaceful days be over for good?

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

This volume was definitely a tipping point for Sei and for everyone around her. For the first couple volumes there were a lot of folks who believed Prince Kyle when he said that Aira was the Saint and Sei was just an other. But there were suspicions towards the contrary, especially considering that Sei’s healing potions were stronger than others.

We also get to see more of Yuri Drewes, the mage who had cast the Saint Summoning Ritual. And okay, it is clear that a lot of the guys in this story are infatuated with Sei for a variety of reasons. I mean, I don’t exactly blame them. She’s cute and nice and helpful and eager to earn her keep.

Honestly I love how adorable the art is for this story, and the story is pretty cute as well, which is really fun. But it also seems like it may be getting more intense or dangerous or action packed, although probably not with the same frequency as a shonen series, which is great, because I don’t want all action all the time. I like the quieter more slice of life type stories.

Anyway, like I said, this volume was a tipping point, because when a bunch of men are injured, Sei steps in to aid with healing them. One of the men has lost his arm, and like the eager to help healer that she is, Sei feels like she has to help, even if it shows off just how powerful her healing is. And she is able to regenerate his arm, a healing ability so powerful it brings into question if she is an other or if she is the true Saint.

I haven’t watched all of the episodes of the anime yet, but it is just as cute as reading the manga. Honestly I’m hoping that it gets more than one season, because I think we need more fun and cute anime to watch. I’ve even picked up three volumes of the light novel, because I’d like to see what extra information comes up in the light novels that isn’t able to be translated over to the manga.

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.

David’s Game Reviews: DragonQuest Builders.

Okay so this is the second game I have taken up in my pursuit of gaming reviews. Now an RPG is definitely more of a type that I would choose over most games. This one however also plays a bit like Minecraft, which I love to goof around in from time to time just to build stuff. I have not played many of the DragonQuest series, the only one I vaguely remember being one for the Wii that I got to go around swinging a sword around for. So here we go with Number 2 of my game reviews!

DragonQuest Builders

Summary: So you are risen back to life to save the world in a dire time. The people of the world have lost the ability to create, and its your job as the legendary “Builder” to show them the way and defeat the Dragonlord who stole the ability from the people. To do so you must build rooms and means of crafting more powerful items in each of the lands. Building is easy, gathering the items and defeating the monsters that try and stop your little towns from growing are the hard part if you are not prepared.

You restart on equipment and building once you save a town in each chapter. Meaning you have to fight new monsters and gather new materials to make items again to fight and build your way to the Dragonlord. A lot of the NPCs in the game share appearances with characters from other DragonQuest games, but the artwork is kind of iconic in its own right.

Review 4.0

Okay so this game was not as exciting as I was hoping it was going to be, but at least it was very straight forward. You fight monsters and break down plants and rocks to collect materials and then use that to build your arms and armor. You do not get stronger from fighting monsters, but by building the stronger arms and armor. It is an interest way to go about it and at least some of the items raise your health.

The monsters are of course all classic DragonQuest beasties which is fantastic. and defeating them for the most part is not really a problem as long as you do not get swarmed by them in mass, which can happen from time to time. I usually did not have any problems gathering materials which is great.

Overall I would want to finish this game long term and I made it part way through the second chapter. I will also probably end up looking into other DragonQuest games as well down the road. If any of you have any goof recommendations for RPGs let me know in the comments below and I will also end up leaving a review of what I thought of it.

Book Review: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Hey all, Sam here.

I need to get my blog schedule back under control. Too many days my posts go up hours after I’d like them to, and it’s frustrating me. I have these plans to have the posts go up at a certain time, that is 3 pm Central Time, because that’s pretty much when I’ve been posting for years. It seemed an effective time, and my stats seem to be better when the posts go up then and not hours later.

So…I’m going to try to get back to my schedule…starting with today’s book review. I’m tackling another read from my recent Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon experience, and again, I’m just really excited to talk about it.

Let’s dive in.

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra’s family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

I enjoy stories that feel like fairy tales, stories that take elements we all know and enjoy from fairy tales and then put them together and manipulate them in interesting ways.

I first found T. Kingfisher a couple years ago…and I can’t remember if it was because of another author recommending her, or if it was a fellow book reader/blogger/influencer, but the first book by Kingfisher that I ever picked up was Clockwork Boys. However, the first one that I read was Paladin’s Grace, which I absolutely adored. So you’d think that I would have started to read pretty much everything else by the author. I want to, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.

It’s also why it took me so long to get around to Nettle & Bone. This book came out last year, in April 2022, and it has sat on my bookshelves pretty much that whole time, and I feel terrible about that, especially since once again I really really enjoyed this book.

Reading Nettle & Bone made me feel like I was wandering through a dreamscape, through a mythical fairy tale, and I was entranced. I mean, come on, a princess, a witch, a knight, a fairy godmother, and an oddball animal companion…that is all the elements of an intriguing story right there.

Marra was a nothing special third-born princess, who seemed perfectly content with her position, being placed in a convent. Her eldest sister is wed to the prince of a neighboring country…and comes back a few years later in a pine box. Then her elder sister is sent to marry that same prince, and when her sister is about to give birth to her first child, Marra learns that the prince is abusive, but that abuse lessens while her sister is carrying his child. It is this knowledge, this desire to protect and save her sister, that leads Marra on a seemingly impossible quest.

I loved watching the misfit crew come together, and I loved watching the bonds grow between all of them. It was the relationships that really propelled the story for me. Yes, the writing and the descriptions helped build the world and develop the story and keep me intrigued by everything going on, but it was the feelings they all had for each other that sucked me so deeply into this story.

I laughed. I cried. I cheered. I gasped. This was just a wonderful story all wrapped up in 245 pages. I’d be very happy to have more stories set in this world, maybe with cameos or guest appearances of the crew in this tale.

I was recently approved on NetGalley for Kingfisher’s upcoming release, Thornhedge, and it also has fairy tale reimagining/retelling vibes to it, so hopefully I’ll be reading and reviewing that in the next couple months.

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.

Weekend Writer: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: Chapter One – Why Do We Care? Creating the Story-Worthy Hero by Jessica Brody

Hey all, Sam here.

Every time I pick up a writing craft book, I wonder what I’m going to learn, if I’m going to relate to how the subject matter is presented, and if the book is going to one that I connect with and read quickly or if it’s going to be a slog.

If I take myself back to the couple of years where I was studying education in college, there are a variety of different learning methodologies and people will learn things in different ways. While I find that I can pick up quite a bit of information from reading about it, I’m also pretty good with learning by listening to lectures, and from actually doing things. Basically I’m a visual learner, an audio learner, and a hands-on learner. I actually remember taking tests on what kind of learner you are, and finding it fun that I was pretty much even on all three, and in tests to determine if I’m right brained or left brained, again I was an even split. So, gotta love being a jack of all trades.

When David and I attend Gen Con each year, I focus a lot of my attention on the Gen Con Writers Symposium, where I attend a number of panels hosted by a number of authors and editors. Some of the panels are immensely useful with a lot of fascinating info, some of the panels just motivate me to create and to write, and some of the panels just don’t end up being for me. I’m starting to get to the point where I can accept that not everything is for me (like that last book for Weekend Writer).

Thankfully, after just one chapter, I can say that I have a good feeling about this book. So let’s get started with this bonus Weekend Writer deep dive.

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!

Introduction

In the introduction Jessica Brody talks about how this all started, back when she was struggling to become a novelist, and had a bunch of rejection letters that all basically said “great writing. no story.” Then she was handed a copy of Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder, and a friend of hers said that it was a popular book for screenwriting but would probably work for novels as well.

After reading the book numerous times and making a few tweaks, Brody discovered that it could be perfectly applied to novels. And in the decade since, she has sold and published a number of books to various major publishers and in many different countries. Brody has plotted out so many books, and has taught thousands of other writers at workshops and such…and now all that information has been put into this book.

Because essentially the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet that Blake designed is not about movies. It’s about story. And regardless of whether you’re writing screenplays, novels, short stories, memoirs, or stage plays, whether you’re writing comedy, drama, sci-fi, fantasy, or horror, whether you fancy yourself a literary writer or a commercial writer, one thing is nonnegotiable: You need a good story.

And I’m going to help you get there.

Because of all of the workshops, and seeing the various struggles of writers over the years, Brody believes that she has structured all of the information here in the most effective way possible, and there are even checklists and exercises to accompany each chapter. Plus, this is written so that you can either tackle the book solo, or work through it with a critique group. I don’t exactly have a critique group…so I guess talking about everything online is as close as I’m going to get.

Even if you picked this up for a specific part of your plot, like the middle, Brody recommends reading through the chapters of this book in order.

Because despite what you might think, this book is about so much more than just plot. The word “plot” on its own is pretty useless. It’s just a series of events that happen in a story. But structure is the order in which those events happen and, maybe even more importantly, the timing of when they happen. Then you add in a character who needs to change and does change by the end, and presto! You’ve got a story worth telling.

Plot, structure, and character transformation.

Or what I like to call the “Holy Trinity of Story.”

The introduction also discusses both plotters and pantsers, but Brody said something that I really loved. “I’ve learned, through working with thousands of authors over the years, that the creative process is a very mysterious thing and everyone is different. (Yes, you are all unique, fragile, storytelling snowflakes.) So, no, I’m not here to change your process. I’m here to enhance your process.”

Yes, with what is said in the introduction, it does seem like this book could enhance the way that both plotters and pantsers handle their writing processes, and I’m honestly hoping that it helps me, who is more of a pantser/percolater (aka I like to internally process and think about what I’m doing for a while before I put the words on paper).

And I don’t know, but even this introduction has me feeling pretty hopeful that this book is going to be useful and written less like an academic lecture and more like a couple of friends hanging out at a coffee shop. It made me very excited to jump into the first chapter…so let’s go ahead and do that.

Chapter One: Why Do We Care? Creating the Story-Worthy Hero

The relationship between character and plot is an essential one. It’s why we start the Save the Cat! methodology here, with the main character, who from here on out I will be referring to as the hero of your story. Because doesn’t that just sound better? A hero is proactive and important and worthy of having an entire novel revolve around them. In the world of Save the Cat!, we write about memorable characters who do memorable stuff. But most of all, we create heroes (male and female!) who are destined to be the center of a plot.

Oh, I will also say that I enjoy that the beginning of the chapter gives a spoiler tag for a few of the books that Brody will talk about in the chapter…you know, so if it’s a book you are trying to avoid being spoiled on then you can set the book aside for another time.

So right now the focus is on figuring out who the hero of your story is, and making sure you’ve created a hero worthy of having a novel written about them, a hero who is interesting and memorable and relatable, a hero that people will want to read about.

How do you do that? Well a hero needs: 1) a problem or flaw that needs fixing, 2) a want or goal that the hero is pursuing, and 3) a need or life lesson to be learned.

Simple, right?

Because readers don’t want a perfect hero. People aren’t perfect, even if they pretend to be. Brody gives us a tip for writing flawed heroes, and that is: don’t let the problem stay contained to just one area of your hero’s life. Basically the problems should spread and infect more of their life and their world and their relationships. If the flaws stay contained then they don’t have the motivation to fight and change it, to be better.

So what does your hero want in life? And sorry, “to be happy” is not a good answer. It is not specific enough and it is not tangible. Since happiness is different for different people, the reader won’t necessarily recognize when the hero gets what they want. So the hero needs something concrete that they think will make them happy, something like a new house, or a championship trophy, or magical powers, or whatever makes sense for your story and your hero.

And those wants or goals can change as the story goes on. Whatever the wants are, they are what will keep the plot moving. Without some goal to work towards then the hero is just waiting around for things to happen and that is boring. It should also be noted that not every character gets what they want, or they are wrong and it is something else entirely that will actually satisfy their needs. But people predictably will go for whatever is easier, whatever is quicker.

Now I realize I’m coming dangerously close to sounding like a self-help book here, but the truth is, plotting a compelling and engaging novel and crafting a story-worthy hero is a lot like playing psychologist. It’s your job to not only diagnose the real problem in your hero’s life, but cure it as well.

This was amusing to me, because when writing it is easy to feel like you are playing psychologist. You have to create characters with problems and then diagnose those problems either with the character’s internal reflection or through another character’s advice or warnings, and then you have to work towards correcting, curing, healing, or managing those problems.

The hero’s want or goal is the main story, or the A Story, but that isn’t the only story. There’s also the internal story, or the B Story, which is linked to what the hero needs to learn to change their life. It should be noted that the internal story is what the novel is really about, even when it is described as being about the want/goal. The internal story should have something to do with a life lesson, and life lessons are universal.

Brody, thankfully, gives us a list of ten universal lessons, and these are ones that pretty much any story can be boiled down to if you really want to strip it down to the most basic ideal.

Forgiveness: of self or of othersLove: includes self-love, family love, romantic loveAcceptance: of self, of circumstances, of realityFaith: in oneself, in others, in the world, in GodFear: overcoming it, conquering it, finding courageTrust: in oneself, in others, in the unknownSurvival: including the will to liveSelflessness: including sacrifice, altruism, heroism, and overcoming greedResponsibility: including duty, standing up for a cause, accepting one’s destinyRedemption: including atonement, accepting blame, remose, and salvation

Writing a hero who goes through a change along their journey is the secret sauce of writing novels. Brody says that if you do that then you can write novels that people talk about, novels that end up on bestseller lists, novels that get turned into movies, novels that resonate with readers. And when you can resonate with a reader, that’s when you become a true storyteller.

So who is your hero? Because the answer may not be who you think it is.

The hero is your guide to the fictional world and they are who the reader will use to track the progress of the story.

And Brody says that even if you are writing a novel with multiple protagonists, you should still narrow your thinking down to one true hero. While all of them should have complete arcs and compelling stories, which one of them has the most change to make and the most to gain. Most of the time the hero that is your true hero in the multitude of heroes for the story will be the one who is the first the reader encounters.

Pages 20 and 21 include exercise questions that help you figure out who your hero is and what motivates them, as well as a checklist to make sure that your hero can cross off everything that was discussed in this chapter.

I read this chapter really quickly and I was so happy to dive into this book. Since I didn’t get any votes on my poll for which book to cover for Weekend Writer, and because I couldn’t decide on my own…David actually chose this book. I’m really glad he picked this one, because I’m really enjoying it so far, and I think I will be able to pull out a whole bunch of useful tips and tricks through this process.

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.

Weekend Writer: May Prompts

Hey all, Sam here.

We have reached the beginning of another month already. I’m pretty excited to see what happens this month. I took a step forward in the application process for a really good job. The blog is doing well. I’ve been reading and writing. Things seem to be heading in the right direction, which is great.

I have started reading a new book on creative writing, and it’ll be the one that I start my deep dives into…but because I don’t want it to get too long today, there will be a bonus Weekend Writer post coming up tomorrow. But even though I’ve only read the Introduction and first chapter for this book, I’m already feeling like I’m really going to like it and there will be plenty of cool tidbits and advice to share.

But, before we get to that, we should talk about the creative writing prompts for the month. Now, if you’re new around here, there is a Weekend Writer post every Friday. On the first Friday of the month that post will include a few randomly generated prompts to spark the creativity and get us writing. Then, on the last Friday of the month, I have a post where I share snippets from what I’ve been writing over the month. For all the other Fridays in the month, the focus is on a creative writing topic or on a deep dive into a section of a book on the writing craft.

Prompt TimeStory Engine Deck

A Hag Wants to Destroy a Monster Whose Only Weakness is A Forbidden Spell But it Will Turn Them Into Someone They Never Wanted to Be.

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. I can’t wait to get myself a physical deck for the Deck of Worlds. When the Kickstarter came around I could only manage the PDF. I wanted to support the project, but I knew I was unlikely to print out the PDF and cut out all the cards and everything. Oh…and they have another Kickstarter coming, this time for a Lore Builder deck, which I’m really excited about.

Tarot/Oracle Deck

Curiosity. Communication. Community.

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.

Roll & Play

A festival celebrating a great annual harvest by gathering at a bonfire in the town square every day for a week.

This month I decided to roll the dice on the Wonderful Festivals page in the Roll & Play book. You can use the dice I rolled, or if you have your own d12, 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

Finally, 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 used the High Seas, Pirates, & Ports 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.

Option 1: The Sea Hag’s Lair – an adventurous Prince of a nearby kingdom demanded a ship to go adventuring but got himself captured by a Sea Hag. She is demanding ransom of his father, but the King cannot afford to pay and needs brave sorts to break his headstrong son out.

Option 2: The Mythic Caves – every hundred years the Moons align and the tides are at their absolute lowest. At this time the entrance to the mythic caves becomes accessible. Now a merchant wants to send people in to grab as many magical crystals growing from the walls as possible.

I have no idea which of the prompts I’m going to go with for this month, but I look forward to sharing some of my writing when we get to the last Friday of the month, as with every Weekend Writer before this. For the next couple weeks we’ll be doing little deep dives into chapters from Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need, which we should be focusing on for the months of May and June.

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: A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

Hey all, Sam here.

I love getting to talk about books, but I continuously find myself living in places where I’m not around people who read with the same voraciousness I do, so I don’t get to talk about what I’m reading or what I’ve read in my day-to-day life…aside from here on the blog. So it’s always fun for me to get to write up these review posts, because it’s a chance to talk about books with any number of other readers out there in the world, and that’s pretty cool.

Anyway, the book I’m talking about today is one of the ten books I read during the 24 hours of the recently completed Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, and I find myself really wanting to talk about it, which is why I have this review today, instead of one of my NetGalley ARC reviews.

Let’s not waste any more time. It’s time to jump into the review.

Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side—and she kind of doesn’t want him to?

Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon—one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.

Ozroth the Ruthless is a legend among demons. Powerful and merciless, he drives hard bargains to collect mortal souls. But his reputation has suffered ever since a bargain went awry—if he can strike a bargain with Mariel, he will earn back his deadly reputation. Ozroth can’t leave Mariel’s side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do (turns out some humans are attached to their souls).

But the witch is funny. And curvy. And disgustingly yet endearingly cheerful. Becoming awkward roommates quickly escalates when Mariel, terrified to confess the inadvertent summoning to her mother, blurts out that she’s dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle with their opposing goals and maintaining a fake relationship, real attraction blooms between them. But Ozroth has a limited amount of time to strike the deal, and if Mariel gives up her soul, she’ll lose all her emotions—including love—which will only spell disaster for them both.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

When I picked this book up, it was right after finishing a book that was a drag to finish, that took me way longer than it should have, and I felt the need to read something that would be light and fun and quirky. I had hopes that this romance focused on a witch and the demon she accidentally summoned would perfectly hit the spot.

I fixed myself a bath, put on some Taylor Swift, and started reading…and within the first few pages I was already laughing. It did not take long at all to get completely and utterly swept away by this book.

Mariel was a fun protagonist, and I loved that she had a fondness for plants and showed a particular aptitude with plant magic, even though she was mostly hopeless with any other magic. I especially felt for her considering how pretty much everyone else treated her because of her seeming lack of magical skills.

Then enter Ozroth AKA Oz…a demon not like the others. Because after a previous bargain went wrong, Oz has been affected greatly, and he feels a lot of feelings that are anything but merciless and demonic.

I loved watching these accidental roommates grow closer, and deal with all the shenanigans that come from fake dating. This was an emotional roller coaster of a tale and I couldn’t stop reading.

This book filled me with such joy and delight. I lost count of how many times I laughed or gasped or audibly or physically reacted to what was going on within the story.

I can also say that I was absolutely pleased to reach the end of this story and discover that there will be more books set in the town, and the next one will follow one of Mariel’s friends, and I definitely have this series on my auto-buy list.

It was fun and adorable and magical and I loved the development of both Mariel and Oz, and seeing them both grow and be able to stand up for themselves and make better decisions for themselves about what they want to do and who they want to be. It was just lovely.

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.