I’ve spent this week watching YouTube videos on writing and learning a lot. I decided to start with Brandon Sanderson’s BYU lectures on writing science fiction and fantasy. The nice thing about YouTube is that I can pause the video and back up to make sure that I heard a concept correctly. Because of this, … Continue reading Learning As I Go
The importance of June 19, or Juneteenth, in U.S. history, has come into sharp focus on the American landscape in the last couple of weeks. But why, exactly, is Juneteenth so significant? According to Wikipedia: “Juneteenth is an unofficial American holiday and an official Texas state holiday, celebrated annually on the 19th of June in … Continue reading Juneteenth: Celebrating Freedom
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun Most of my ideas are set in some fantasy world or another. One notable exception is a story I wrote in college. The script I had penned for a class stayed with me over the decades. After reading It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis, a story idea began to percolate. … Continue reading When Characters Have More to Say
I read a lot as a kid. I don’t remember what I read in primary school. Still, I do remember bringing the Weekly Reader home every week with at least ten books that I wanted already filled out in the order form. Inevitably, my mom would say “no” to most of them, and I’d have … Continue reading What Is Speculative Fiction?
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun Here it is Friday again. I spent the week getting my projects off the old computer and onto the new, and not a lot of time writing. I’ve downloaded a few of the games that have been sitting in the queue for a week or twelve and checked out a couple … Continue reading Use Experience to Build a Better Character
(C) 2020, JJ ShaunPutting game tiles together to create a unique playing field. I’ve been getting more into the heads of my characters lately. The introductory tale of this series of short stories centers on three young members of an uber-rich family. They get caught up in a set of circumstances they never, in their … Continue reading Playing to Write
(C) 2020, JJ ShaunPainting D&D miniatures while practicing "social distancing." People around the world are about to spend more time with their loved ones than they ever thought possible. In some cases, that will be okay, in others, not so much. Some people will be spending more time alone than anticipated. In all cases, now … Continue reading Pandemic, Week 1
The news for the last few weeks has been dominated by talk of a new virus not seen before in humans—coronavirus disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2 or 2019-nCoV), commonly called COVID-19. What is a coronavirus? According to WebMD, “A coronavirus is a type of common virus that can infect your nose, sinuses, or upper throat.” Think, the … Continue reading Thoughts on a Pandemic
(C) 2020 JJ ShaunYoga Poses On Tuesdays, I spend an hour on my yoga mat with a dozen or so other hearty and aging souls on a mission to stay healthy. About eight to ten years ago, a lunchtime yoga class was offered at the job for a reasonable fee. I’d taken a yoga class … Continue reading Staying Healthy
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun For the past week, I’ve been busily building my D&D campaign on my imaginary fantasy continent, Adaran. I’ve decided the size of the staff of the Happy Harpy, my imaginary outpost between two major trade cities. So far, I’ve fleshed out about seven of the more prominent non-player characters (NPCs), and … Continue reading Building a New World
There is comedic gold behind every painful experience. Here are mine.
Tabletop roleplaying thoughts by a London geek
Tavern Tales
Tavern Tales
Putting ideas into words.
