Watch the video version (https://youtu.be/Er7q3ta_5-E) which shows scenes of the game. In this episode, hosts Tete DePunk and Fortunus Games discuss one of their favorite games, "Bioshock Infinite." We discuss the following questions: Booker is actually Comstock in another universe. What do you think set the stage for an alternate Booker to become Comstock? Comstock himself is an unorthodox antagonist. Unlike most antagonists, he’s deluded that he’s really saving a chosen people and believes his own form of religion will save the Nation. But he’s turned to other means to make his reality come true. What do we make of his religious extremism? Are we facing a similar trend of religious extremism today, especially in the US? Let’s talk about Columbia, the floating country of Comstock’s radical reality. (We can also talk about the theory that Columbia was originally DC.) What can creators learn about good worldbuilding from a world like Columbia? Despite the striking contrast in its ensemble, what makes the Infinite cast work? We have characters ranging from the powerhouse populist leader Daisy Fitzroy to the enigmatic but charming Luteces. What makes this cast work? What can we learn about a character cast working together in a heavy story like Infinite? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message Listen on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=63ee4f80ebeb4a93

In this episode, Tete DePunk (IG: @tete.depunk), one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews writer James Michels, author of novels such as “The Ballad of Johnny Carlo”, “Ice Rising”, and its sequel, “Icebox”. Prolific in the Crime-thriller genre, James michels has also recently released a crime fiction anthology, “Life’s Dark Corners”. As of 2015, he is an Officer with the Department of Corrections. Crime fiction explores the darker reality of life, often exposing social and personal issues in ways that other genres might not fully show. Its focus on the grittiness of ordinary reality for the individual facing an unfriendly world has made this particular genre a compelling one. Tete asks James the following questions: What got you into writing? You mentioned you always enjoyed the true crime and crime fiction genres. What drew you into these particular genres? When you set out to write your works, there is certainly some research involved in the creation of these works. How do you go about the research process for your work? How much fact do you incorporate in your fiction? How do you know what is the right amount of fact to put in work? In 2015, you joined the Department of Corrections as an officer - has this influenced your approach in writing your work? Lastly, what is your goal in your writing work? What do you wish to impart to your readers? Links: James’ website: https://jamesmichelsbooks.com/ (https://jamesmichelsbooks.com/) James’ books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/James-Edward-Michels/author/B08XN58X8R?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true (https://www.amazon.com/stores/James-Edward-Michels/author/B08XN58X8R?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true) James’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesemichels/ (https://www.instagram.com/jamesemichels/) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message Listen on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=63ee4f80ebeb4a93

Today, co-host Tete DePunk will be interviewing author and interviewer Brock Swinson, who reached out to our podcast. Brock Swinson is the author of Ink by the Barrel: Secrets from Prolific Writers. He is also the interviewer for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, a publication dedicated since 1994 to educating and exploring the field of screenwriting and its creative minds at the helm. Additionally, Swinson hosts the podcast, Creative Principles, a podcast focused on discussion of the creative principle and key figures in the creative world today. I’ve provided links to the Creative Screenwriting Magazine and the Creative Principle Podcast in the description. Throughout his career, Brock Swinson has gained an impressively thorough knowledge of the screenwriting world. He has had the opportunity to discuss indepth the creative principles and know-how of the field with some of the best minds in the industry. Tete asks Brock the following questions: How did you get into the field of creative screenwriting? What challenges did you face in this particular industry? How has screenwriting changed throughout the past 10 years? Does AI, as some purport, threaten the agency and integrity of screenwriters today? In your view, what were the factors that have led to the recent strikes from the Writers Guild of America? Have these factors been present for a long time standing? Did you ever face set-backs in your career? If so, how did you overcome them? How can aspiring screenwriters and writers get into the industry? What advice would you impart to yourself when you first began in this field? Links: Brock’s Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/brockswinson/⁠ Creative Screenwriting Magazine: https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/author/Brock/2/ Creative Principles Podcast: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/creative-principles/id1292130289⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message Listen on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=63ee4f80ebeb4a93

Host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (Fortunus Games) interviews author James Mitchell about his upcoming book, which will hit retail on September 19, 2023. His book is called “Musical Chairs: A 76-year-old’s quest to learn every instrument in the orchestra.” Find out more about it on James' website: https://jamesmitchellbooks.com/ James Mitchell was born in New York City, which nurtured his love of classical music from an early age. Professing little to no talent, however, he left the playing of music mostly to others until the writing of Musical Chairs. For the 67 years that elapsed between music lessons, Mr. Mitchell was an actor, a Sales Manager for a ski company, President of a national advertising agency, a cowboy and wilderness outfitter, an educator, and co-founder of an NGO aiding women in Afghanistan. Mr. Mitchell is working on two new books, and otherwise occupies his time going to concerts, playing music, tennis, cycling, and riding and driving horses. He lives in the country near Longmont, Colorado with his wife, some zebra finches, an old cat, and a few equines. He is immensely proud and fond of his two grown offspring and has one very young grandson. Imelda asks James the following questions (and more): What prompted you to write this book? In your bio, you said you always loved classical music. Growing up, how were you exposed to this genre of music and what did you particularly like about it? Which instruments do you enjoy the most and why? You mentioned you were an actor. Since acting is a form of art, did it influence how you saw music? Did it also influence your interest in writing? Why did you have five careers before writing “Musical Chairs?” Sounds like a drifter to me. Not many people start on a three year project when they are 76. Especially when they know next to nothing about it. Were you trying to prove something? To yourself? To others? How many times did you think of bagging the whole thing during those three plus years? You could have tackled something else, like taking just 12 lessons in 11 different languages and then be able to order a meal in each language at an ethnic restaurant. Why music? The subject is serious, but the book has a lot of humor in it, much of it self-deprecating. Why did you do that? Playing a classical music excerpt in just 12 lessons is quite a challenge, made more so by the week after week, month after month nature of the book. How much pressure did you feel to do well? James’ upcoming site: https://jamesmitchellbooks.com/ (https://jamesmitchellbooks.com/) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message Listen on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=63ee4f80ebeb4a93

Today, host Fortunus Games talks to Wren Mafyrneen (Instagram: @wrenby_m) about their graphic novel, “The House on Caple Hill.” Wren appeared on many episodes in Season 1, but this is the first episode they’ve appeared on for Season 2! Wren has talked extensively about their plans and progress on “The House on Caple Hill.” Check out the links in the descriptions to see all of the “House on Caple Hill” episodes. Wren's bio: Wren Mafyrneen (they/them) is a graphic novelist, writer, and artist. Their main project is "The House on Caple Hill," a fantasy graphic novel in nine parts that explores the main character's journey to find pieces of themself scattered throughout the cosmos. Wren enjoys creating nouveau-style watercolor paintings and illustrations, dabbling in music ranging in styles from classical to classic rock, writing the occasional poem, and exploring the beaches and forests of their home near the Northeastern US coast. I ask Wren the following questions: -What were the most difficult parts of writing this book? -What were the easiest parts of writing this book? -Do the visuals of this book differ from previous books? -What are the main themes of this book? -Can you summarize the Book of Ib in five sentences? What is the beginning, climax, and end? The artwork in the thumbnail is by Wren. Watch all of “The House on Caple Hill” episodes here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTxVO2FXg_5zK28nzmkGcpF Listen to all of “The House on Caple Hill” episodes here: https://www.podpage.com/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-writing/category/wren-mafyrneens-the-house-on-caple-hill/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message Listen on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=63ee4f80ebeb4a93

Hi, everyone. Today, we’re talking to artist and writer Carrie Knowles about her approach to visual art. This is part three of our interviews with Carrie — please check out episodes 211 and 212 for my previous discussions with her about writing fiction and non-fiction, respectively. Carrie Knowles is a prolific award-winning author and arts advocate. Along with her nine books, she has published short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, and received numerous awards for her writing. In addition to being a writer, she is also a visual artist. In 2017, she was invited to be one of seven international artists for a special exhibition in Brisbane, Australia. The seven of them were all artists who worked in more than one genre. The theme of the show was “The Inevitable Past”. They were tasked with the job of responding to the theme by bringing together their artwork with their other creative voice. In thinking about what was inevitable about her own past, Carrie began writing about her father’s mother who died during his birth leaving many unanswered questions as to who she was and where she was going when she arrived at the Door of Hope (a home for unwed mothers in Macon, Georgia) badly beaten, unconscious, and very pregnant. Here’s what the curator of the show wrote about Carrie’s work: It has been asked 'is Carrie an author who aeates visual art, or an artist who writes?' For her, it is all part of the one thing. While her literary work has often dominated her creative endeavors, the multi-levelled cross-overs between these fields, though often subtle,are implicitly present. Growing up in middle America with a high achieving father, who was also blind, her drive to do her own thing (be a writer and artist), while rejecting all perceived limitations, WAS almost inevitable. Initially inspired to paint, parental pressure to do something less 'self·indulgent' saw her commence tertiary study in Physical Therapies, before switching to an Engllsh major — Carrie the author was born. Journalism, writing education papers, and teaching (writing and art) followed before postgraduate studies in sociology and psychology. Yet throughout, her creative expression in both literary and visual forms continued. Now the author of five intimately moving books (fiction and non-fiction, in which the constant passsage of time is a pivotal context), innumerable articles, short stories, poetry and social commentaries — with a growing number of awards — her equally emotive visual art has always been nascently entwined with her literary practice, and each is increasingly informed by and reflective of the other. To read more about how writing about her own inevitable past developed into a novel, and how the artwork she presented in Brisbane became a 27 foot-long hand dyed and embroidered linen shroud, go to Carrie’s website: https://www.cjanework.com/the-inevitable-past (https://www.cjanework.com/the-inevitable-past) In the past two episodes, we talked to Carrie about her approach to writing fiction and non-fiction. In this episode, we’ll be talking about Carrie’s approach to visual arts. What is your favorite medium to work with? (i.e., watercolour, colored pencil, etc.) What are your favorite subjects in art? Who are your favorite artists? What are your main sources of inspiration? In your view, what is the relationship of visual arts and writing? You can purchase and see some of Carrie’s art through Marguerite Guitreau’s online store: https://www.chairish.com/shop/margueriteguitreau Marguerite Guitreau’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marguerite_guitreau/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message Listen on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=63ee4f80ebeb4a93

Today, host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (@fortunusgames) talks to artist and writer Carrie Knowles about her approach to writing non-fiction. Check out our previous episode, ep 211, about her approach to writing fiction. Carrie Knowles is a prolific award-winning author and arts advocate. Along with her nine books, she has published short stories, newspaper, and magazine articles, and received numerous awards for her writing. She was named the North Carolina Piedmont Laureate for Short Fiction in 2014. Carrie has published five novels: Lillian’s Garden, Ashoan’s Rug, A Garden Wall in Provence, The Inevitable Past, and A Musical Affair, as well as Black Tie Optional, a collection of 17 of her short stories. Her memoir: The Last Childhood: A Family Story of Alzheimer's, has been described as a “must read” for family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. During her time as the 2014 Piedmont Laureate, conducting writing workshops across five counties in North Carolina, she wrote a writing workbook aimed at providing the basic tools a new writer would need to get started: A Self-Guided Workbook and Gentle Tour on Learning How to Write Stories from Start to Finish. She writes a personal perspectives column for Psychology Today, Shifting Forward, and has recently published a collection of the first 50 stories from her column titled: Shifting Forward: Fifty Reflections on Everyday Life. To learn more about Carrie, go to her website: www.cjanework.com (http://www.cjanework.com) Last episode, we talked to Carrie about her approach to writing fiction. In this episode, we’ll be talking about Carrie’s approach to writing non-fiction. In this episode, Imelda asks Carrie these questions: What prompted you to start writing non-fiction? What is the difference between the facts as truth v.s. the emotional truth? How do the basic tools of writing good fiction apply to non-fiction? Why might you want to move non-fiction to fiction with an emphasis on the power of narrative to build a story? Do you have any general writing tips for all writers, whether they are writing fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies, or marketing copy? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message Listen on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=63ee4f80ebeb4a93

Today, co-hosts Tete DePunk and R.N. Roveleh review Christopher Nolan's movie, "Oppenheimer" (2023). Find out why both of them loved it so much! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fortunus-games/message Listen on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19SSgimyWNltGafK88wxQU?si=63ee4f80ebeb4a93