The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

Today, co-host R.N. Roveleh interviews author Peggy Payne about her books. She asks Peggy the following questions: 1) You’ve just released a new novel entitled, “My Life of Earth and Elsewhere”, a Young Adult story with a 16-year-old protagonist, Darcy. Which is interesting, because your previous books, Sister India, Cobalt Blue, Revelation, are adult fiction, with heavy themes and very mature exp...

In this episode, host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games) interviews a special guest: Andrew Steeves, co-owner of Gaspereau Press, a literary publisher and printer based in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada.  Imelda and one of the podcast co-hosts, Tete DePunk, first became aware of Gaspereau Press when we went to the Fisher Small and Fine Press fair at the University of Toronto back in Septem...

Today, R. N. Roveleh, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, will be interviewing writer Ryan Keating. Four of his poems have appeared in our literary magazine “The Unconventional Courier." Ryan Keating is a writer, pastor, and winemaker on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. His work can be found in publications such as Saint Katherine Review, Ekstasis Magazine, Amethyst Revie...

Hi, everyone. Today, it’s just me, Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast. Today, I’ll be reviewing a book that I read last year, “A Marker To Measure Drift” by Alexander Maksik. I found it on discount through Chapters Indigo back in October 2022 and couldn’t believe I only had to pay 4.99 for such a great book. My “A Marker To Measure Drift” review on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review...

Today, host Fortunus Games and co-host R.N. Roveleh list 10 tips for determining whether you're writing for escapism. This is an important topic because I think all of us have struggled to balance escapism and writing.  Our 10 tips are: Does your story have a structure or is it just brainstorming? Is your story structured around a theme or themes? Is your protagonist yourself? Is their love in...

Hi, everyone. Today, it’s just me, Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast. Today, I’ll be reviewing a book that Tete DePunk and I read last year, “A Whole Life” by Robert Seethaler. I found it on the House of Anansi Press’ website and we were immediately struck by how powerful it was.  My GoodReads review of “A Whole Life”: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5033992611   Read my “A Whole Life...

Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews author Nick Young, who submitted an impressive range of his respective stories, “Oasis” in Issue 5,  “Alabama” in Issue 6, and his most recent story, “Boomerang” to Issue 7 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” Links to these works are at the bottom of this description. About Nick Young: Nick Young is a ret...

Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games), the host of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing podcast, interviews two very special guests: authors and educators Elizabeth and Nancy Jorgensen, a writing and publishing mother-and-daughter duo. Noting a lack of middle-grade and young adult books featuring female sports heroes, they collaborated with their Olympian sister and daughter to inspire the next gene...

Today, R. N. Roveleh, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing and co-editor of the literary magazine The Unconventional Courier , interviews writer Laura Cooney.  Her short-story “Musically Challenged. Challenged Musically” was published in our December Issue of The Unconventional Courier. It is a powerful and touching story of someone who is in love with music, but is tone deaf. You...

Today, host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games, IG/Twitter @fortunusgames) will be interviewing author and podcaster Kyler Bingham, who hosts the podcast, “Salt Lake Dirt,” where he interviews many different creatives, including authors, movie directors, and actors.  Me and Tete DePunk, a co-host of this podcast, have been interviewed on his podcast, specifically on episode 97, where we tal...

Today, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, will be interviewing the electrifying poet and author Indranil, who submitted his collection of respective poems to Issues 2, 3, and 5 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” His collection of evocative and striking works is often inspired by arresting modern artistic masterpieces by 20th-century greats such as R...

In this episode, R. N. Roveleh, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing and co-editor of the literary magazine The Unconventional Courier , interviews writer Gershom Gerneth Mabaquiao. He is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. His works touch on the darker recesses of the human psyche and Philippine folklore. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines...

In this episode, co-hosts of “The Nuts and Bolts of Writing,” Tete DePunk and R.N. Roveleh (a.k.a. Helevorn) analyze a movie that Fortunus Games and Tete previously discussed on this podcast: Zack Snyder’s “The Man of Steel” (2013). Tete DePunk and R.N. Roveleh talk about their impressions of the movies, why their perspectives are different, and how the movie meets (or doesn’t meet) their standard...

In this episode, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews poet Ali Ashhar, who submitted several of his poems, including “Life’s Lore” to Issue 5 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” He also submitted his quartet of poems, including “Evasion”, to Issue 6 of The Unconventional Courier. Ali Ashhar’s works featured in The Unconventional Courier : ht...

In this episode, R. N. Roveleh (a.k.a. Helevorn), one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews writer Ashwini Gangal. Two of her short stories have appeared in our literary magazine “The Unconventional Courier”, namely Brown Gaze and Hotoli and Botoli . Her writings go deep into the human mind, and just when you think you understand the protagonist in their complexity, the stor...

Hi, everyone. Today, it’s just me, Fortunus Games, the host of this podcast. Today, we’ll be talking about a topic I’ve been thinking about since last September, when I met Tete Depunk in real life for the first time and we realized something at the Toronto Zoo. It was a grey, dreary day, and we were going to talk about our characters when we realized we didn’t want to. Instead, there were so many...

Host Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games) talks to author DC Diamondopolous, whose short story, “ Life with Angie ,” appeared in Issue Five of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.”   DC Diamondopolous is an award-winning short story and flash fiction writer with over four hundred stories published internationally in print and online magazines, literary journals, and anthologi...

Hi, everyone! Today, me and Tete talk about a topic that is extremely important to both of us: how to stop sexualizing our characters. For the longest time, Tete and I have been sexualizing several of our male characters. For me, it was Joel Farber from my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel,” and for Tete, it was the protagonist of her novel, “70 Fierce Years,” Andrei Danilovich Novokshonov. Sexuali...

Today, we have an amazing guest: writer and podcast Sarina Langer! I, Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games), have previously been on her podcast, The Writing Sparrow podcast , which is all about writing, publishing, and marketing your book. It’s a great resource for indie writers of all stripes. On her podcast, I talked about how to write and publish graphic novels, since I’ve self-published...

Today, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, will be interviewing poet and author Leslie Cairns, who submitted her poem “Family Trees”,” to Issue 2 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” She also submitted her short story, “Owl, Lunar, Twig” to Issue 3 of The Unconventional Courier. Links to both of her works are at the bottom of the description. Leslie's...

We’ve had some amazing author interviews lately, and we’re going to receiving even more. Before we dive into more interviews, however, let’s pause to talk about the importance of organization - for this podcast and for writing more generally. In this episode, I talk about why I'm not going to post the Fortunus Games tarot deck analysis videos for the podcast (but they will continue being available...

In this episode, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, interviews writer Thomas Misuraca, who submitted his short story, “Words Enough and Time,” to Issue 6 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” I’ve provided a link to the story in the description. Tom Misuraca studied Writing, Publishing and Literature at Emerson College in his home town of Boston. After...

Hi, everyone! Today, we have a guest, Cynane Shay, the author of an upcoming book about fundamentalist Christianity in the United States, “Taking Off the Tinfoil Hat.” You can find her on Instagram @taking.off.the.tinfoil.hat and on her website, http://takingoffthetinfoilhat.com/ . Cynane grew up in a small conservative town in Florida. She grew up alongside many fundamentalist Christians, many of...

Watch this on YouTube. Read the transcript of this episode. Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you are having a great time with those you love, which can be your significant other, parents, children, and other family members and friends. We will be talking about a subject that me and the other co-hosts have been thinking a lot about: How to write romance in a non-escapist manner. Listen to learn tips for...

Update: April 14, 2023:  This episode was featured on  Superstition Review's blog ! The feature also includes a never-before-seen text interview with Imelda Wei Ding Lo (Fortunus Games), the host and interviewer in this episode. Watch this on YouTube. Hi, everyone! Today, we have a guest, Tejaswinee Roychowdhury, who was one of our contributors to Issue Three of our literary zine, “The Unconve...