Friday Conversation | Episode 100: Unboxing Nostalgia - Transforming Collections, Epic Reads, and the Evolving Reviewer's Landscape – Celebrating 100 Episodes

Ever wonder what lurks inside the mind of an avid Transformers collector? ChibiPo and Chris Mohan, the dynamic duo of nostalgia and critique, join us to unravel the complexities of collecting these iconic toys. They weigh in on the Transformers film saga with a special nod to "Bumblebee," while our banter with Alex—an aspiring writer with a fantastical tale to tell—sparks a lively debate on whether collectibles should ever escape their pristine packaging.

As the leaves change color, so too does our literary appetite. Dive into the heart of our reading journey as we tackle the formidable "Shadows of the Apt" and "Malazan Book of the Fallen." But it's not just about the page count; we dissect the evolving dynamics between authors and reviewers in today's digital world. Are social media endorsements diluting the essence of genuine criticism? Tune in for a candid exploration of this and more, including our shared excitement for the next "A Song of Ice and Fire" installment and the resilience of Godzilla in popular culture.

Celebrate with us as we cap off our 100th episode, looking back with gratitude and forward to what the new year holds. From seasonal shifts in reading choices to allocating time between books and video games, this episode has it all. And as we toast to the milestones, both in pages turned and episodes aired, we invite you to join our ever-growing community of book lovers, cinephiles, and those who simply appreciate the art of conversation. Here's to many more episodes that blend the practical, the playful, and the profound.

Guests:

Chris Mohan: https://www.youtube.com/@chrismohan

Varsha: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadingByTheRainyMountain

Chibipoe: https://twitter.com/chibipoe1

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:07

So, uh, part three, and we have someone else pop in. Eh, so we have someone else. Let's see who it is. Oh, chibipo. Yes, hello, I'll actually be right back.

Speaker 3 0:22

Hey Chibi, Hello Hello.

Speaker 1 0:26

So, chris and ChibiPo, you give us an introduction.

Speaker 3 0:30

You can go first. Chibi Go ahead.

Speaker 5 0:33

Okay, uh, I'm ChibiPo, a page-tuning lurker who says things occasionally so, and I read books and collect transformers.

Speaker 1 0:46

Nice, thanks for finding out.

Speaker 3 0:49

My name's Chris Mohn. Sometimes YouTubers sometimes appear on streams such as this and uh, do not collect transformers. And in fact, I think the only transformers fill my legs the original Alameda one, hmm. I tried watching one of the newer ones again just to see if it kind of like come around and grow back into them and no.

Speaker 5 1:11

Uh, it would depend on which you know um which show you watched. There's been a couple of shows, um, but I don't think it's been a few years since they've had a really good one. Hmm, and by a few years I mean something like um more than a decade.

Speaker 3 1:31

Yeah, yeah, high-pitched, high-pitched with us, for sure, hmm.

Speaker 1 1:38

Those movies are very um disposable, I guess, or forgettable.

Speaker 5 1:43

Oh, oh oh. We're going to talk to movies. Um, bumblebee was good. Uh, I enjoyed Rise of the Beasts I don't have anything and I sort of enjoyed the first live-action one. Hmm, I don't have anything else to say. You know anything good to say about anything from the second one until Bumblebee. So and this is a longtime fan I'm like I I'm like wow, this is, this is terrible. And I didn't. I saw the second one, um, and then I didn't go see another one until Bumblebee. So it just got like it got worse and worse and worse.

Speaker 3 2:25

Just not a fan of Michael Bay's Added the Star Quick cover thing. He just I don't know, I like that like the Transformers. The best thing about it was watch them transform. Right, it does not be done quickly. You can just kind of you can take your time with it. Ah See, the Mick really cool toys. They always did Mick like super cool toys.

Speaker 5 2:46

Oh yeah, and that's the ones based off Bumblebee design for a video game that's coming out, and the design and his way transforms and everything. I'm like, wow, this is really good.

Speaker 3 3:01

I'm going to get this Nice.

Speaker 1 3:07

How long have you been have you been collecting them?

Speaker 5 3:10

Um, off and on for, uh, pretty much since I was a kid. Um, you know, I fell out of collecting them for a while. I picked it back up. I collected it for, you know, when I had money for a few years, you know, earlier in the 2000s, and then stopped again for a little while because I just didn't like anything that was being put out. Um, I moved out here to Oregon and acquired a job and suddenly I had to, you know, just you know disposable cash and picked to have it back up again in probably the worst way possible.

Speaker 5 3:56

Well, I discovered the unofficial third party market where, you know, companies take the ideas behind the figures and design their own figures and they're not aimed at kids at all, so you know. So their designs are more complicated and you know, and whatnot. They do a lot of things that you know, like toy laws here in the US prevent them from you know a lot of things that they do. You know they can't. You know the toy, you know, like, like the drop test. If the toy falls apart, you know, you know when you drop it, you know it can't break into anything that would, you know, injure someone. It's like one of the rules, so that cuts them off from a lot of materials that they can use and whatnot but, yeah.

Speaker 1 4:56

How's it going, alex?

Speaker 4 4:58

Not bad at all. How's everybody else?

Speaker 1 5:02

Good, will you give us a quicker introduction?

Speaker 4 5:06

Yeah, my name's Alex, and when I grow up, I want to be a writer.

Speaker 1 5:12

Yeah, glad you can make it.

Speaker 4 5:16

Well, I've kind of been in all night really.

Speaker 1 5:18

Yeah, glad you joined us.

Speaker 3 5:24

You left off an international man of mystery off your introduction there as well, Alex.

Speaker 4 5:29

Yeah, I did. I'm trying to keep that quiet.

Speaker 3 5:32

Sorry, my apologies.

Speaker 1 5:33

I'm trying to be miscagsy. That's fair. It's probably the best, the best route to take.

Speaker 3 5:39

I'll never see you coming, Yep for sure.

Speaker 1 5:45

So should we put with your collection? Do you take them out? Do you leave them in the packaging? Because I wonder if what's the? Or is it just like a bunch of policy on that?

Speaker 5 5:54

I have disposable cash, but I don't have that much disposable cash. If I were collecting, like the official figures and I only buy those, you know, though, I'm starting to get back into the official line. If I were buying them, I might, but generally I'm like no, I'm not buying them as an investment or whatever. I'm like, no, I'm just buying these to get them out, play with. So, you know, because they just end up being like I'm in meetings a lot, you know. So I'm like they end up being something. I can sit here, you know where, no one can see it on camera, and I can just be fiddling with it and transforming it while I'm listening to people drone on. So, but no, I like, I like taking them out of the box and, you know, transforming them, and you know too much to be one of those. You know, and I know some people are like I'm going to buy multiple copies of this so that I can have one in the box, one transformed, one that's not transformed, you know, and so on and so forth.

Speaker 2 6:58

I'm like do you throw in a sound effect every once in a while?

Speaker 5 7:04

Yes, sometimes I, even if it's a jet, I'll even take it and I'll be swooping it through the air and I'll go swoosh. I mean, if you can't, you can't get your little robot, you know that has a pair of laser guns, and you just hold it up and go pew, pew, pew, pew, as another robot then really, what are you doing? Yeah?

Speaker 3 7:28

that's true. You're only getting like 20% worth of value out of the toys in the first place. If you're not done the sound effects, you're only getting certain percentage.

Speaker 5 7:35

Yeah, I'm actually sad a lot of times that you know they've. You know they haven't done toys that have sound effects built in anymore. You know, for the Transformers, because I like some of those are a lot of fun and sometimes I'm like you know, I think some of them that they made in like 2005 or so, that I had collected I'm like that was about the best time ever because it's like they had some of them had sound effects and lights and like they did. You know, some of you might have seen Hasbro a couple of years ago did this official crowd source where they made this gigantic figure. It's like 30 inches tall, nice, and you know it's the biggest Transformer that they've ever made. You know period.

Speaker 5 8:29

But he's they did a version of him, who's you know like maybe 12 inches tall, back in 2005. And it's so much more of a better figure because it has lights, it has sounds, it has all these little things you can do with it. You know, whereas this big one, it's like, yes, it transforms, but he doesn't have any eyes light up but he doesn't. Once he transforms he's so big like he turns into a planet, takes so much space, and it's like what do you do with him. You know he's so big. You know it takes you like an hour to transform him and almost takes two people to do it. Yeah, and.

Speaker 5 9:13

I was like, yes, he looks big and impressive, but if you can't play with it, what's the point?

Speaker 3 9:19

That's a lot of sound effects for an R, like they try and keep that up for a while, but it's moving. That's it's gonna be tired. Your voice is gonna go Nice.

Speaker 5 9:34

Yeah, that and the bumblebee are my most recent ones that I bought.

Speaker 1 9:39

So that's what you're fiddling with all the time when we're trying to talk to you.

Speaker 5 9:42

Okay, yeah, probably. You know, I've got a bunch of little ones sitting here on my desk and probably fiddling with one of those.

Speaker 3 9:52

I showed this last time. Everybody has figures, Like I have my Matty.

Speaker 6 9:59

Fox lost one doesn't have him.

Speaker 3 10:01

One of those what's in liking that show that much that you took them off is he actually did the studs to go in an island and threw out the island and just kept Matty Fox, but he's got like that. Destroys you and everything. It's all I play.

Speaker 1 10:19

So, alex, you mentioned you want to be a writer when you grew up, but tell us about what you're working on.

Speaker 4 10:27

Well, the main thing I'm working on at the moment is carpentry in the Elven forest, which I've just gone past 52 and a half thousand words on now. So I'm about halfway there and it's still just full of really bad puns.

Speaker 3 10:51

But more importantly funny puns. You know well, yeah, hopefully bad puns, but bad puns are usually good puns, depending on what way you like it.

Speaker 4 11:02

Yeah, I mean, hopefully they're funny, but they are they are awful.

Book Pitch and Movie Review Discussion

Speaker 1 11:11

All funny puns are bad puns. Hey Varsha.

Speaker 6 11:13

Hey, I have the bottom lane all to myself.

Speaker 3 11:19

Yeah, I thought Steve was going to do the whole speaking of awful. No, he didn't do that. He didn't do that.

Speaker 6 11:28

You break my heart.

Speaker 3 11:30

Sorry, I didn't say it. I said no, no.

Speaker 4 11:32

I blow.

Speaker 3 11:38

Disruptor, wasn't it? Disruptor is the official title, isn't it?

Speaker 6 11:43

But speaking of awfully disruptive.

Speaker 1 11:53

Oh, so Varsha, give us an introduction.

Speaker 6 11:55

Oh, hello, my name is Varsha. I run the YouTube channel reading by the rainy mountain, where I occasionally post videos and do a lot of discussions on, and I also apparently disrupt a lot of things on the Patreon forum.

Speaker 3 12:12

Yes in the best way.

Speaker 1 12:20

So, varsha, do you collect figurines?

Speaker 6 12:23

I do not. I do have a huge collection of mini boosts. I don't know if those count stuffed toys I collect. I don't collect figurines.

Speaker 3 12:39

They love your back, though I mean Cuddly Toys generally love your back. Butty Fox doesn't love me. No, he's very cool. It's the way he's standing, the way he's standing off, is you know? Maybe if we get a Cuddly Toy version, it'll make a little difference.

Speaker 1 12:57

Yeah, paramita, we know you have to head out, but thank you for hanging out and chatting with us. It's always great to get your perspective on things.

Speaker 6 13:05

Thank you Bye bye. It's a lovely time, hi, varsha. Congratulations, steve Bye.

Speaker 4 13:11

Bye, bye.

Speaker 6 13:15

I almost said thank you to the congratulations, as if she's saying that to me.

Speaker 1 13:21

I'm just out of habit. So, before we get to Josh's question Alex, when can we expect or what? Do you have a target or kind of like a timeline that you're working with so we can expect it?

Speaker 4 13:36

Yeah, I was hoping to finish it by the end. That was a book just falling off a shelf.

Speaker 3 13:45

Death by literature.

Speaker 6 13:48

The book chef's trying to kill you, Alex.

Speaker 4 13:50

Apparently so. I was aiming to try and get it finished by the end of this year, but that's really not going to happen.

Speaker 3 13:58

Come on, you've got at least 26 hours here.

Speaker 4 14:01

Come on 26 hours to write half a book. I want to get it to my editor because I'm going to edit this one and then give it to B2Readers, because I think the last one I gave it to B2Readers first and there were too many errors in it for the B2Readers to not see past Varsha, who pointed out an enormous amount of errors in it. So I'm going to get it to my editor as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of February.

Speaker 3 14:31

Hopefully Were you savage Porsche. You're bitter, Just ripping it apart page by page.

Speaker 6 14:40

I was very kind. I thought I hope.

Speaker 4 14:47

She just spotted an awful lot of errors that I'd made.

Speaker 6 14:52

A lot of them were just typos. I was pointing out a lot of typos sometimes, which happened.

Speaker 4 15:02

The editor I'm using is also said to me it's the more correct way of doing it is to give it to your editor first and then give it to your B2Readers.

Speaker 1 15:12

Yeah, what's the pitch for the book?

Speaker 4 15:18

I'm useless at this sort of stuff.

Speaker 1 15:21

Basically, you've got to think about it. You've got to practice.

Speaker 4 15:25

Yeah, basically a two, no, not two. A otherworldly being who helped create the world has decided that he's bored and the way to get overboard and Mr, release all of the inspiration into the world, and that way he won't be bored anymore because everybody will be creating new wonderful things and everything will be great. His counterpart, realizing that this is a bad idea because the world will be destroyed by too much inspiration, is trying to stop him. He is using a carpenter called Jeff, who will go into the Elven Forest to get wood from the crow tree to make a box, and inside that box will be all the inspiration that Jeff has used to get to the Elven Forest in the first place, which will then be amplified by the magical wood from the crow tree. And when his fiancee, who the book boxes for is open, opens the box, all of that inspiration will be released into the world.

Speaker 1 16:32

Yes, that's cool, so a nice bandit as books.

Speaker 6 16:37

So they sound familiar. So you're on.

Speaker 3 16:41

Greb Norton, alex Freight, and they're asking about the pitch, right, and then they go have you got a box that you based this on? And you're going to have to produce a box and say this was the box.

Speaker 4 16:54

It's sitting on my fridge over there and it's got my Nespresso coffee capsules in it.

Speaker 3 17:02

Practical and sad the source of inspiration, that's true, yeah, caffeine.

Speaker 4 17:15

Yeah, I mean the tagline is going to be seven long lines of. It starts with inspiration and it ends with love, or something like that. Because love is going to have a big impact in stopping everything from going wrong, which is kind of the cozy fantasy element to it. The rest of it is pure punnage.

Speaker 1 17:46

I'm not the only one who's who's feeling like Varsha was a little, because I bet I read it. I bet I read it too and remember we talked just like. Well, Varsha found a lot of errors. I'm like I was like I was just having a good time, I got it. I made a couple, but it wasn't anything serious. But I was like Varsha, great job, you did a great job. Beta reading.

Speaker 6 18:09

I guess transport skills from doing code reviews.

Speaker 1 18:12

Yeah probably yeah. But Josh's question anybody watch Godzilla minus one, probably the best movie put out in a while.

Speaker 3 18:22

No, I have nothing but great things, but not yet.

Speaker 2 18:31

Yeah, I had to see Aquaman. Oh God, that was a trademark. It was horrible.

Speaker 6 18:41

Had to see. Well, my, my nephew asked me.

Speaker 1 18:46

It was just like okay, by, just by your comments, like a mysterious vander of up to your house, like a bunch of people got out kidnapped, you tied you up three in the back of the van. But where are we going? You watched the movie and then like dropped you off on a sidewalk somewhere like D's and confused so yeah, yeah, yeah, I couldn't believe how I couldn't believe how bad it was.

Speaker 2 19:11

I thought it was just, I was just like it can't be that bad. Right, I'll go see it.

Speaker 1 19:18

It's a good one. You figure it would be decent. But it was bad.

Speaker 3 19:24

The first Aquaman film is the worst film I own. Hans down, it's not. No, no, it's not by Aquaman too. This is the game. For that challenge, she has to find a film worse than Aquaman and Jared's stepping up and saying I got you.

Speaker 2 19:46

I just. Every time somebody spoke a word of dialogue in that film, I was hitting myself with a metaphorical hammer on the head. Wow, it was bad.

Speaker 3 19:58

Just just my more is not exactly new one for a snappy repartee you might be doing for those things. This actually is a genuine problem. I think going to the cinema, going to the cinema with people, trying to find the people who will want to watch the same types of films that you want to watch in the cinema that you find good quite challenging.

Speaker 4 20:22

I've never seen Godzilla minus one. But when Chibapo was talking about the 30 inch transformer, my mind immediately put 30 inches into the Godzilla theme tune from the cartoons and thought how ridiculous is that? Here he comes, 30 inches tall, kind of makes Godzilla seem completely harmless all of a sudden.

Speaker 3 20:49

That's all relevant. That's the fight I'd still lose.

Speaker 1 20:58

I think it's strange to make something like Godzilla seem interesting still after all this time. I think it's kind of an accomplishment, I think, to captivate an audience with something like Godzilla. It's been around for so long. I think it's hard to keep it interesting after all. This time it's like a giant monster. How do you make something interesting into it?

Speaker 5 21:21

Well, for minus one, and as I understand it it's more going back to the original. You've had Godzilla versus Kong and all of that, where Godzilla is the hero and for this one he's very much not. It's like I think it's even set like a year or two post-war war two. It's Japan that's not in a good spot and then, oh look, godzilla comes around to make it even worse.

Speaker 3 22:00

It's a very interesting franchise because Godzilla is characterless pretty much in every movie. He's just the thing that turns up and either saves the day or wrecks the place one of the two and that determines whether he's good or bad. Sometimes he does both at the same time. Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 4 22:20

You say he's characterless, chris, but you don't get to meet him. Offset.

Speaker 5 22:25

That's true, that's true, Godzilla versus Kong actually was really good about giving him character. There's the big fight he has with Kong and he's just ragdolling him and does the nuclear breath at him and hurts him and all. And then they did a really good job of you can almost see Godzilla laughing at him.

Speaker 1 22:55

So, Jared, we know you have to run, but thanks for hanging out. Yeah. Appreciate you coming by. Love it Great Thank you. Thanks, Jared.

Speaker 3 23:03

You're welcome, Jared.

Speaker 4 23:12

So how are you holding up, steve?

Speaker 1 23:14

Good, I might have to get up and walk around for a second, but I know I'm leaving. I'll just be gone just for a second, but I know it's in good hands, so I'll be right back. Don't say anything bad about me, because I'm going to listen to this after. Oh challenge accepted.

Speaker 6 23:30

I was going to listen to six hours.

Speaker 1 23:33

I want to mark down the time and then I'll be like, oh dear.

Speaker 3 23:41

I feel like we should have a live chapter read or something Well like cats away. Yeah, nice to play. What's somebody reading, or not reading, as the case may be?

Speaker 6 24:00

I started the count of Monte Cristo, I am I'm surprised how fast it is going. I'm only 30 pages in, but it reads fast. I feel like for classics. I don't expect to get through them quickly or read them like I would. I think the fastest books for me are usually contemporary fiction or romance. This one read on a similar level, not as fast as romance does, but as fast as most contemporary fiction does, which is it was interesting. I wasn't expecting that.

Speaker 3 24:41

So it's like the skill goes from down Brian to Johnny in terms of speed.

Speaker 6 24:49

Yes, oh, I have to slow so much down when I read Johnny's books. They are very rewarding for that. Yeah, plan for the time 100 pages, and I'm a very slow reader to start with. I normally take three hours to get through 100 pages. I know there are people who can do 100 in less than an hour, but for me it's three hours and for Johnny's books it's more like six or seven hours, I think.

Speaker 5 25:21

You need to get on my level.

Speaker 3 25:25

This is something I've accepted over the six months ago TV.

Speaker 5 25:30

Come on, people Read them as many just read them as much as I have. And then you just see start reading and you're like zoom can't stop. Yeah, and currently I'm still reading a little bit of slowly. God's of the word would buy. Okay. Yeah, but I don't know I've gotten further in it, but I'm just sort of like puttering along. And then you know, of course I have this.

Speaker 3 26:06

Oh, your apparel's good, very nice.

Speaker 5 26:09

Well, I've paused, so don't get too far ahead, and I'll probably. You know I've got good reads, you know it's about to hit. You know, start up on great conspiracy, you know, right around the same time we do. So I'll probably just reread that, yeah.

Speaker 6 26:27

Parals get us to books down from grand conspiracy, or is that?

Speaker 5 26:30

after yeah, so great conspiracy and the perils.

Speaker 6 26:33

Oh, that's too far ahead.

Speaker 3 26:35

That's that's about.

Speaker 6 26:37

I thought stomp for just was before better.

Speaker 5 26:41

It's grand conspiracy. Next for us, then Perils gate, then traders and not, and then storm fortress. Okay, and then after storm fortress, just three more books and then you're done.

Speaker 3 26:58

And you put it like that the marathon, you know, and somebody says, after this, first five, five miles of another three miles, another small couple of two mile chunks after that, and then you just know what 15 miles at the end of that.

Speaker 6 27:16

Yeah, it's interesting how you can add ornamentation about anything to make it sound easy or difficult or good or bad.

Speaker 5 27:26

Yeah, also, and because I picked up because I don't know where the rest of my at this point and I picked up some used copies. You know Varsha needs to join me in reading, you know, all of the Michelle West books.

Speaker 6 27:40

I do. I mean I want to. I have a bunch of series that I don't know if I'll pick up Michelle West next year but I want to do hob after we finish what, and then I want to do realm of the elderlings when we finish what is the fight in shadow? I don't want to pick it up.

Speaker 5 28:00

I don't want to do that because I have those, because that's like these covers, but I've only ever read the first three of the assassin trilogy, and that was ages ago. So I have all these others and I'm like, yeah, I need to read these. I'll get to it Because I remember reading the assassin trilogy and I'm like oh my God, this is so depressing.

Speaker 6 28:30

I don't know how she rates on difficulty level, but apparently, at least emotionally, it takes a lot out of you. So I only want one thing like that going at a time. So, or is the fight in shadow?

Speaker 5 28:46

I don't know about difficulty, I'm, I'm, I've come to realize that mine is messed up because I was reading you know, jenny, and you know stuff at like 15, so and the hob stuff I read right around the time, like you know, came out to. So I'm like so my, my, my metric for that is like I don't know, it's like, was this difficult when I read it?

Speaker 3 29:11

No, yeah, I just I was kind of got to the end of the year, was looking at my books or read which is hard to say because it was doing lots, a lot of graphic novels and stuff, but about 50. And then you look at the 50 books that you read and went that's the wrong 50 books. I should have read this set of books instead, or you know that kind of never in any quest of you think God, 50 books, love me. It way through loads of series and made progress and a lot of things need to look like, but it didn't have like inched forward, just the most meager amount and like the stuff that I want to read, like it's impossible.

Speaker 5 29:50

Yeah yeah, I've got. I'm also thinking about clearing off some of my shelves because, like I've had stuff on here that I'm like I wonder you know that I was like wanted to get on my reading you know reading list and then I'm like, and then it's just sat there and I'm like I have no interest, I have this here.

Speaker 3 30:10

Because one day you'll be struck with inspiration going. Why did I throw that one book out? Why did I not keep that? Because that's perfect for my mood right now.

Speaker 5 30:21

Maybe, yeah, some of them I got because like, oh, I like to cover this and you know what not, and then I somewhat was word of mouth, but like, like, um what's his name? Gwyn.

Speaker 3 30:35

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 30:37

I like the um, the, you know, hunger, the gods and the shadow of the gods. Those two Still waiting on the third one for that Yep, but I've also got the um that quartet. You know we got those but I just haven't gotten around to reading them. Yeah, neither I've got like three Abercrommie, but I don't understand the Abercrommie. So I'm like, can I read these without reading all these others? I don't know.

Speaker 6 31:10

Oh, you have the second trilogy.

Speaker 5 31:12

I've got the um Is the McRouds.

Speaker 3 31:17

Red Coloury Heroes. It's not something like that.

Speaker 5 31:22

Yeah, I don't know if there's. You know if we're like red, blue, Last Argument of Kings or something like that, I don't know.

Speaker 6 31:34

Yeah, the one that's set in the future from the original trilogy. I guess I haven't read any Abercrombie either, but I have read his um what is classified as YA trilogy, but I haven't read the. I forgot what it's called.

Speaker 5 31:51

Yeah, I've heard people like oh he's, you know grim dark.

Speaker 3 31:56

I don't know why I got these other than like covers and I mean, I know what you mean, Josh, except I didn't press that button.

Speaker 1 32:18

I can't forget for those listening to the comment that said I hate Steve Glatt. He's gone, so yeah.

Speaker 3 32:26

I mean you've. You've interpreted that a little bit, steve. It just says I can't stand, steve. It didn't say yet anywhere in there, but you heard it, that was fine.

Speaker 1 32:38

Put two together. What did I miss?

Speaker 5 32:41

Actually, you know, he doesn't say that he can't stand. Steve, I can't stand, I can't stand.

Speaker 6 32:48

Oh come on.

Speaker 3 32:52

Portion is important. Oh, this is such a great visual.

Speaker 1 33:06

I can't stand comma Steve Glad he's gone. I can't stand, steve.

Speaker 3 33:17

Yeah, it doesn't work as well on audio. Yeah, like you didn't mean it, Josh Sure.

Speaker 1 33:23

What was that? That magazine cover that someone was on the cover of, and it was like someone cooks dogs or what was it. It was like Marie Claire, it was a punctuation area where it was like it should have been a period, but it was a comment. It was like so and so eats, and then it was like I don't know for you, I was fine.

Speaker 6 33:45

Oh yeah. I think it's about the form somewhere.

Speaker 4 33:52

I already covered my reading earlier in the conversation. I'm not going to go through that embarrassment again.

Speaker 3 34:00

It's usually about your avoid and reading it.

Speaker 4 34:05

Yeah, I'm still not reading the darkness that came before.

Speaker 3 34:11

Me and you both.

Speaker 4 34:14

Well, you know, I have written in my, in my defense. I have written 13 short stories and half a novel.

Speaker 1 34:21

I mean, you have an excuse.

Speaker 3 34:24

Where to make me feel bad.

Speaker 4 34:27

I've actually listened to more of the book that Varsha ordered me to listen to.

Speaker 6 34:34

Oh nice, I have to. I am yet to finish a restaurant the restaurant at the end of the universe, but when I do. That's the audio book I'm picking up next, for it's called murder murder your employers. Yes, it's narrated by Simon Rant and it the sample I listened to, was hilarious. How are you liking it so far?

Speaker 4 34:54

It's actually quite good it's. I didn't. I wasn't sure because it didn't feel like it was my usual type of setting, but I'm enjoying it so far. I think I'm on about chapter two or three of that.

Speaker 6 35:07

Nice, nice, I've got to. Yeah, I mean, varsha has written once. This comedy is really really well, as does Steven Fry. He's done a few PG Woodhouse, which I'm a fan of.

Speaker 4 35:22

I have listened to the PG Woodhouse collection read by Steven Fry.

Speaker 6 35:27

Oh yeah, I listened to summer lightning. I'm walking my way through that collection. I don't know if Varsha has a whole collection or he's just done several disjointed Woodhouse books, but once I did listen to he he's done them brilliantly. I think it for comedy. You need good timing and stuff. The new Disqual Audio books are great too.

Speaker 4 35:54

Yes, I'm enjoying. I've forgotten his name now the one that's doing the guards books.

Speaker 6 36:01

Oh, I don't remember those.

Speaker 4 36:05

He's an impressionist. He used to be in a program called Dead Ringers in the UK. I can't remember his name at all, but he's very good.

Speaker 6 36:16

Nice, I think I'm two books away from the first Night Watch. Is that what it's called Watch, city Watch, city Watch? But Indra Varma is my favourite.

Speaker 3 36:29

John Colshaw is the guy.

Speaker 4 36:33

Yeah, Indra Varma has done the whole witches collection and she's brilliant, she's brilliant, she's so good.

Speaker 6 36:44

I listened to Secret Garden, which she narrated. She was so good. I also listened to the first Witches book.

Speaker 4 36:55

And she was in Game of Thrones, which just makes it even better.

Speaker 3 37:00

And Lupa Lupa.

Speaker 1 37:05

So there's kind of a there's some traction about Jor-Jor Martin having or like he's having like an idea when the next book is going to be released, and supposedly there's people that say that the ending of his book at least what he gave to the Game of Thrones producers has been leaked. So I guess the first question is if you, what did any of you want to know, and do you think that's true? Because I think it's out there and I don't want to know?

Speaker 3 37:40

Do you think he would stick to it?

Speaker 1 37:42

even Like he must have multiple endings planned, he must have an idea he had to have changed it Up to the TV show, I would imagine if it was anything close to what the TV show did, he's probably like fuck that.

Author's Book Series Speculations and Disappointments

Speaker 3 37:57

That's going another path indeed. And you know, I'd say the fact that his books have to be good and surprising and well received Like one of the things about Game of Thrones is his book series. Never mind anything else is that it was constantly surprising. So the one thing he can't have is a predictable sort of three part of it. You know he has to do something else. He's probably going to have to change it a couple of times, I would say, before he gets in it. But the way to get around it is by releasing the damn books or writing the books. You know that might be a good way to cut a lot of this off at the pass.

Speaker 5 38:33

I'm still in the firmly in the sense that you know, just based on one of his last things he said, where he's still working on it, where he you know that I'm pretty sure he decided to scrap everything that he had and start over, because he said something and it just sounded like he's you know, he had just. So anybody who's still hoping for that book next year? I'm like, yeah, that book is not coming out next year, we're coming out next year.

Speaker 3 39:00

We would already know that's right, they've started the promotion for it already.

Speaker 4 39:07

The thing that worries me is there's been so many theories and possible endings, even just while people were watching the show. That's right, but in order to come up with anything different, he's got a monumental task on his hands to come up with something that nobody out there has gone. Wait a minute, wouldn't this be a great ending?

Speaker 5 39:34

Yeah, and it's also too possible. You know, like he gave that, he gave the you know his original ending away with the TV series. And then you just, and then he saw how it was received and Now he's desperately scrambling to not do any of that because, yeah, that last season everybody's like what just happened.

Speaker 4 39:59

Now he's trying to work out how he can get Jamie Lannister and John Snow to marry and form a coalition army.

Speaker 3 40:09

I mean I'm on board without totally on board.

Speaker 4 40:12

It would be different, although now I've just said it, it's out there.

Speaker 5 40:19

I'm sure some of you are going to defend it all about that, and it probably involves yeah, it probably involves John Snow and Jamie Lannister actually getting married. Yeah, probably does.

Speaker 6 40:34

So I have a question. I haven't finished reading the series and I'm only two books in, and I haven't watched the TV shows at all. But is the ending the only thing that everybody wants to know? How it all ends? I'm good to understand. There's a lot of loose ends and there are many plot threads. It must be at a certain place. We need to go from there. I mean, I guess is it a what happens now question, or is it how does it all end? Is that the question that everybody's more interested in?

Speaker 5 41:09

Well, the series, what is it?

Speaker 5 41:14

Season five roughly corresponds to how the last book ended, as I recall, and that's the last, whichever was the last book that went out. But there's certain things that don't happen in the series, that you know her in the books, that you know her in this post season five, but anything after season five is not in the books because it's all you know. They're just working over whatever outline he gave them, and so it's you know, wanting to see what, everything that happens after that. But yeah, the like for one of the characters, the last moment of her in season five is exact same, pretty much the exact same way it ends, you know, for her in the book, the last book.

Speaker 5 42:09

But then they introduced this other plot thread, which I'm not going to tell you what it is since you're not there, but I think a lot of people were not happy about that plot thread and they don't introduce that in the, in the, in the TV show at all. So, so I guess maybe a combination of both they want to see. You know what happens past the book, you know, plus how it all ends. I don't know.

Speaker 5 42:35

I was not a fan of the last book.

Speaker 6 42:38

So I guess. I guess if let me ask the question a different way if all you ever got not was wasn't the books, but just how it ends, would that be sufficient to make everybody happy who's waiting on the story? Or would you want to know how you got there from wherever you left off At the end of book five or season five over? I'd want to know how they got there.

Speaker 5 43:05

But that's just me. But you know, if I were still reading, I don't know about you. Part of my problem with it.

Speaker 4 43:14

I read the first one not long after it came out and then I've waited 20 years, 20 years if it must be 20, almost 20 years, it feels like it. To get to this point. I haven't even read the last two part book that came out because he split book five into two. Haven't even read that because it took him so long to release that I forgot what happened in book four and the TV series came out and it all got mixed up with the TV series. So now I'd have to go back and start again, Read books one to four, then read five and then wait another potentially six years for book six to come out. There's like to spend most of my life waiting for this series.

Speaker 3 44:07

It sounds like you're in.

Speaker 5 44:11

Yeah, because, yeah, I read. Yeah, that's what I did. I was like I cut the first one. I was like, oh, this cover looks neat, let me give it a try. I was like, no, it was pretty good. And then I tried the other two, but and then the fourth and then the fifth. But at the fifth I was like, yep, no, I'm done. Just between how it ended and you know the increasingly longer time between books. And I was just like nope, I'm not interested.

Speaker 5 44:39

So then I followed the TV series for a while, which, as it got further on, it became more of like, hey, this is cool to see how this all plays out. But it was also like, yeah, they're just the show runners are just completely off the rails. It's fun to watch because it was a crazy spectacle. But sometimes you're like, really, did they just do that?

Speaker 5 45:03

My favorite part is the some of the cast and I don't want to do it like ruin anybody on the show, but there's the video clip where they're doing the rehearsal reading for just sitting around the table for the final episode, and you watch some of the cast, like Amelia Clark and whatnot, just physically cringing at what they're doing because of you know how the episode and what the writers and the show writers decided to do with it.

Speaker 5 45:32

And they're just like she's, at one point, sits there with this cringy look who looks over at someone else on the stage or on the table and then just sort of slumps down in her chair trying to hide because, yeah, you know some of them looking pissed off, they're just like why did they do this? But it's really fascinating though, because it's like the show was so popular and then the last season just like completely destroyed any you know of its influence or whatnot, and it's just like no one talks about it. We don't talk about that anymore. Yeah, we'll talk about the other should, the new show, but yeah, season the last season was yeah, I don't know what they were doing there, but it was bad. Sorry, I'm rambling.

Speaker 3 46:27

But how's the dragons coming back?

Speaker 1 46:29

Series two Excite, yeah, yeah, excited I haven't seen the first one.

Speaker 6 46:40

I was waiting to finish eating the books, so I haven't seen the show either. I'll get there in a few years.

Speaker 1 46:48

I kind of wish I didn't. I didn't watch the show because I tried to read the books and I just couldn't get into them because I just it's so close to the books that it's like you're just rewatching. I might as well just rewatch the TV show. I only get to book three, I think, but it was pretty damn close. I was impressed with how close a lot of the events were to the show.

Speaker 5 47:09

Yeah, season five was when they after season five were. You know where it splits.

Speaker 3 47:20

Well, that bit, that bit started. We were talking earlier online, started reading the arrival story from Ted Chiang and still hard to read that and not see Amy Adams, jeremy Renner and Bella. It's hard not to see that set up and actually I think the book there's. A lot of things are slightly different about it, but I can't on say it like it's just one of those things. I just can't replace it.

Speaker 6 47:48

The aliens? Have you gone to the bad, where they describe the aliens, and does it match the movie descriptions?

Speaker 3 47:55

Not really no, especially because in the movie they do their best to not show them, if you know what I mean, if that makes sense. Whereas this is the short stories, not that long, obviously, but they're very quick about describing them.

Speaker 3 48:10

And it's tetrapods in the book, but even the setting and how quickly that all comes together. You see a much exposition the movie puts in and you can't help think that is actually what happened on this version of the story as well, even though it's not there. But it's an interesting frame and narrative about how the thing set up, which I think is quite interesting, especially when you consider what happened in the movie and stuff. So it is an interesting experiment to go through and read as a first story that you sort of know, or at least the framework.

Speaker 6 48:45

Yeah, and it's kind of nicer, nice, I suppose that it's a short story I normally really dislike. If there is a movie based on a book that I want to read, I always wait until I've read the book, because it's so much harder to pick up a book for a movie or show that I've already watched than it is to just go watch the movie, because it takes a lot less mental effort to just watch as opposed to read. Tv shows, I guess take the same amount of time, more or less, but movies I definitely wait until I've read the book.

Speaker 3 49:32

I think a similar sort of thing would be true with founder read foundation. Now, because they changed an awful lot of the frame and device of the TV show versus the book that I think it would be almost impossible to read the book. Now I haven't seen how they split up and made it filmable. I see there are a lot of ways. I think that would be quite difficult to do, but maybe it's an absolute dream.

Speaker 6 49:57

Yeah, if there's enough of a gap, perhaps. Yeah, I do want to watch the show, but I don't remember the book.

Speaker 3 50:05

That might be good.

Speaker 5 50:08

I need to help.

Speaker 6 50:09

Sorry, go ahead, no go ahead Sorry.

Speaker 5 50:13

I'm just on subject of things to read. I need to get back to reading these.

Speaker 6 50:18

Oh yeah, how are you liking the what's it called the day about trilogy?

Speaker 5 50:24

I really enjoyed the first one. I have kingdom copper and empire gold and the novella I think it was that she did, plus the adventures of Amina El Serafi, which takes place somewhere in this universe. I really need to get around to starting kingdom of copper, though, so I'm like I keep meaning to do that. They're ones I'm like I've heard really good things about them, so I'm like I need to read the rest of this.

Discussion on Reading Habits and Weather

Speaker 6 50:54

Oh, I didn't finish talking about Michelle Sagara when I said Michelle West, when I said I want to read Hobb after what? But yeah, I do want. I like that her work is broken up into multiple smaller series, which I suppose you could say for Hobb as well. But yeah, mid next year I'd like to pick up her books 2026 reading plans Varsha, this is where it goes, yeah it's kind of sad.

Speaker 6 51:22

I'm like I would I make a list of books that I shortlist for the next year. I do that towards the end of what I have been doing in the last couple of years. I have a list, 50 series like. I tend to read 50 books a year. So unless I start all of these and then completely lose track of everything, I'm not getting through this. I have the shortlist and shortlist and shortlist and then it becomes a depressing list of three series that I get to read.

Speaker 3 51:52

I tend to pick series that are not like traditional fantasy series, which are like three books long, yeah. I tend to pick series that are 131517, you know, whatever things that aren't finished yet.

Speaker 6 52:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I think I can afford to have one or at most two of those going at a time, like I think. The next one also that I'm considering is shadows of the app is that what that's called. That's also done, looks long but. But I loved guns of the dawn and I think I might be a fan of check off ski's work in general, so I do want to read that series.

Speaker 5 52:33

I did my first check off. Ski was the memory ones children and memory and whatever which. I didn't have a third one, but I really liked, you know, I think I like the second one better than the first, but I did feel like for those that they were kind of samey a little bit and I started shadows of the app to read the first one, which I really liked, the second one over here to start on at some point.

Speaker 5 53:06

I'm definitely going to keep through on that one At some point. I need to read the last two of the Malazan, the Ericsson. I've read all the way through.

Speaker 5 53:25

I don't see us. And then because that was everything that my friend had and just the dreams and crippled God, and the crippled God was out when I when he loaned him to me. But I've got a humble bundle. So I got all the books, but you know of them now and though actually I'm kind of like some of the Esselmott stuff that he's got actually seems to interest me more, because I still was like with Malazan, I was like what is going on at the time because it was just all over, felt like it's all over the place to me.

Speaker 4 54:08

My 77 year old mum has just finished the first Malazan book in less time and it's taken me to reach out to one of the darkness that comes before. So you know being shown up on my mum as well.

Speaker 1 54:29

You can still catch up to us. I'll actually note that for a head.

Speaker 4 54:33

Really on book two, I've been reading it for six months.

Speaker 1 54:41

It could be a new year thing, but we're taking a pretty relaxed pace though.

Speaker 3 54:46

What you need is for us to be like disappointed, and it's a very great motivator for me. The feeling that I might let Varsha down is the bit that keeps me reading and I'm a very big oh no.

Speaker 3 55:02

I mean, I genuinely mean that the positive way, like it's like and unless and more serious for you like having the conversations to talk about the books is a good, is a good way to kind of keep myself kind of always in the back of my head going, oh, I should not have another 50 pages or something in this, even when I'm not reading.

Speaker 6 55:23

Yeah, that definitely helps. So I am what I guess booktube dumps mood reader, but, but having a discussion to look forward to, I can read anything, apparently, so that's nice. Yeah, I see what you mean.

Speaker 1 55:47

Part of my serious helps that, I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 55:52

So part of my lack of reading comes from the fact that it's winter and I don't go fishing in winter because it's too bloody cold and onto you to old to go fishing in the cold. Now you know that's eight hours on a Sunday where I can sit there with an audio book. Most of the time catching fish is relevant.

Speaker 6 56:20

It's just a quiet time. Do you fish? Whenever you say that you're fishing, alex, and your weekend plans in that thread we have on the form I always picture you in a boat in the middle of a lake somewhere. Is that picture? Are you on the show?

Speaker 4 56:35

On the bank. Comfy chair reclines.

Speaker 3 56:40

You're. You're sort of making it sound like in the summer we have this such glorious weather and Britain Such a difference from winter.

Speaker 4 56:51

We have enough days, and when it rains, usually warm at least, so I can put up my enormous umbrella and just camp out under that.

Speaker 3 57:02

Yeah it's not like Steve's summer 110 105. That's insane.

Speaker 1 57:13

It was some hot days. It's only a couple of months, so it's not too bad. It's in the fifties, now forties and fifties for the day.

Speaker 4 57:22

So A couple of months.

Speaker 3 57:27

We had sunshine for three days in a row this year was amazing, but it's such a party.

Speaker 6 57:37

Three days in a row. I used to be able to say that about Seattle, but I feel like we get a lot more sun now.

Speaker 3 57:45

I don't know if this is the same in where you are, alex, but certain here, as soon as the weather turns warmer and I mean turns from like 1011 to 1415. The best tops are out everywhere. It's like, honestly, it's like as soon as there's even the slight touch of like warmth in the air that you might not dive hypothermia. It's like shorts, best tops, everybody's out like it's a middle 40 degrees.

Speaker 4 58:11

Yes, sudden Russian ice lollies in the supermarket.

Speaker 3 58:17

Shortage just complete, another shortage of ice and ice lollies and yeah.

Speaker 6 58:24

I agree.

Speaker 4 58:28

Portable air conditioning units, rockets, and then, three days later, we're back to complaining about the rain.

Speaker 6 58:40

Someone visited us from Arizona and, like a teammate from Arizona visited us I think it was springtime, just about summer, and we took him to a lake nearby and people were jumping into the water and going crazy. He's like wow, you guys probably don't get a lot of sun around here Everybody because it wasn't even that sunny of a day, it was just mildly sunshine and the weather was still and the temperature was still pretty low.

Speaker 5 59:13

I couldn't get the people from like Arizona and California that show up around here in the Pacific Northwest, you know, during the spring and they'll all show up and they'll just be bundled in heavy coats and scarves, while the people who live here just walking around in shorts. Well, I am, but you know, here doesn't get particularly cold for what I'm used to. So I'm like, oh, it's 40 degrees, I can wear shorts, it's fine.

Speaker 4 59:42

I'm not sure what temperature is at the moment, because my computer's decided not to tell me. For once, you're gonna have to go outside what it's five to 12. So that's still evening just about, and I'm seriously considering taking this top off because I'm too hot.

Speaker 1 1:00:11

I need some, some music, some techno music to play.

Speaker 3 1:00:19

Temperature tomorrow between one and nine degrees. So that's freezing about, maybe about 40, 50, something like that. That's tomorrow.

Speaker 4 1:00:30

Still quick.

Speaker 1 1:00:33

Earlier with with Joe JC. I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 1:00:41

It's 11 degrees centigrade. Oh no, hang on. No, that's Saturday at 4pm. Why are you telling me that today at 4 pm it's 4 degrees centigrade?

Speaker 3 1:00:54

Yes, that sounds about right.

Speaker 4 1:00:56

I'm not sure what that is in Fahrenheit 30 something maybe.

Speaker 1 1:01:03

Yeah, Carl is here, hey Carl.

Speaker 6 1:01:07

Good evening, hey, carl.

Speaker 1 1:01:08

Oh well, good to see you.

Speaker 6 1:01:10

Hey Carl.

Speaker 1 1:01:11

Swing him by.

Speaker 2 1:01:14

A little bit earlier we were talking to you 39, I was close Earlier.

Speaker 1 1:01:20

We were talking about with JC and Byrne and Parmeetha and Susanna. We were talking about the separation of reviewers and authors, whether it should be or kind of just like, but also kind of, because previously in history Parmeetha was of the opinion that the artist speaks to the person absorbing the art through the art and that's their way of communicating. And once the piece of art, whatever they create, is out of the world, that no longer belongs to them. So they shouldn't reply, or respond to a reviewer who has a negative or positive review Should be no interaction. So what are everyone's thoughts on reviewing and the author's role, if any, to reviews?

Speaker 6 1:02:12

Stay opening up Pandora.

Speaker 1 1:02:15

It was a fun topic. I wanted to do a mistake?

Speaker 6 1:02:17

Yeah, I have been to have many strong opinions on the subject. I can go first, if that's OK. What was I saying? Yeah, I feel like saying that artists shouldn't respond to reviewers leads to dangerous territory where you can say whatever the heck you want and you expect that they won't respond. I feel like, at the very least, you shouldn't look negatively upon an artist responding to misinterpretations of their work, misreadings or misinterpretations of their work. You should be allowed to respond to that. And. But there is the other dangerous territory where, if an artist has a huge following, they can set reviewers, they can set their audience, lose upon the reviewers, intentionally or unintentionally, and that can lead to a lot of issues. But I've also seen the reverse happen, where a reviewer with a bigger audience than the author did a lot of damage to a community. So I don't think it's either or it's dependent on the situation. I think setting rules about the interactions makes it dangerous in a lot of ways for many people. That's all.

Speaker 3 1:04:00

Bite my tongue, tom. I haven't even been drinking this. It's terrible. So what? Where they go this from? Ok, let's take it this way Twitter slash X.

Speaker 3 1:04:16

I don't think people here in this group are engaging very much with it, but it has become and I went on earlier on to flick through it has become this weird never-ending cycle of promotion or I can't actually see a review anymore for this pushing of people's books, which is great in one way, but it's literally I don't know what's criticism anymore. I don't know what review is at all. I don't see that space at all anymore. Even people, things that start off with reviews, become something else and that idea that they've seen quite a funny. I can't remember who it was, but it was somebody who was doing a skit on the internet or somebody on the internet been asked for their opinion on something and he says, oh, what does everybody else think? And he was like, no, you're the first person to hear about this. Well, what your original opinion is? It couldn't possibly Not until at least 20 other people have sounded off on this thing. Can I actually give my opinion of something on the idea of reviews or whatever Not done on a vacuum?

Speaker 3 1:05:34

Either way, ideally it should be separate spaces from anything else, but the two words are too closely linked now in terms of promotion, review, criticism of the review, and then write a reply, which is all well and good, but it just muddies the fact that there aren't reviews anymore. I just don't see any of them. They just become either promotional pieces or threads of conversation or something, and I don't know. Like I said before, I don't read any of them anymore, because what are they? Sorry, not sorry. No, I agree.

Speaker 1 1:06:16

I think some reviewers and this isn't a slide on anyone, because I found myself doing the same thing you become like a cheerleader for an author or for a series and it's not a critical analysis or an objective analysis. I really love this and I want everyone to read it because I really enjoyed it. So I think the intentions are good. But I think a lot of reviewers become cheerleaders and become like the flavor of the author, like the hype person to hype up their work, which is fine. It's not a criticism. But I think there's a difference between promoting and reviewing, and I'm not a reviewer. So I come to this saying I'm not good enough to be a reviewer by most people's standard. But I just mean, if you are more of a cheerleader, then just say I really love this and you should read it too, instead of presenting it like a critical analysis because it's not so. I think there's a weird thing there.

Speaker 3 1:07:28

It's just very difficult. I totally agree. It's not to associate it to anybody that is falls into any of those camps, because that was never really the intention of the strawcloth. It's just, it becomes all noise and it becomes very hard to distinguish what is what, if that makes sense.

Speaker 5 1:07:46

I feel very called out.

Speaker 1 1:07:48

No, I do it too.

Speaker 3 1:07:50

We all do it Like. This is the truth.

Speaker 1 1:07:53

Yeah, I freely admit I do it for all of my favorite stuff.

Speaker 5 1:07:56

Yeah, yeah, because I'm like, oh yeah, because I'm probably the most vocal on Twitter, I guess, about an author.

Speaker 1 1:08:06

No, I think I'm referring more to someone who. There's people who don't promote necessarily one series, but just promote people in general, which is fine, and we need those people to do that, to get the help of the word out. Not being critical of anyone, I just think if you are the hype person for indie authors or fantasy authors, that's cool. But I think there's a difference between being a critical reviewer and conveying your thoughts. And conveying what you thought about something versus this person is great. You should read their book, and when that's all it is, it kind of gets drowned out because no one really listens anymore.

Speaker 5 1:08:51

I think there's also some intersection there where, with the got to get more clicks, got to promote my channel and whatnot, and they're just sort of driving for that instead of like no, I like this, this is great. Here's why I like it. Now read this, you know I don't know.

Speaker 5 1:09:20

I think it's kind of getting exasperated with Booktube in general, Sort of feeling like it's like I want to support some of these people, but I feel like it just sort of I don't know has made my attempts to read worse Because, you know, and I guess some of them might be just some sort of the samey because you'll get a lot of people and they all end up talking about the same things on the same series, series. And I'm like, why? And then they say all these great things about the series and one series. And then you're like, well, yeah, and then you sit here if you're a fan of another series and I'm not going to name any particular series here, but I'm sure people know what I'm talking about and you're like, yeah, and everything you just said about that other series is in this one, so why aren't you reading it? But it's the self-reinforcing of the algorithm. They're like if you try to deviate off of it, you lose people's attention and your numbers go down and you've got to have those numbers go up.

Speaker 5 1:10:29

Sorry, that's more general, Just more general. It's gripping for me, Sorry.

Speaker 3 1:10:32

No, I think it's the same. I think we're all sort of making the same point, which is the fact that it's hard to distinguish the noise from trying to find stuff that you want yourself. You know what I mean. If you're going out and you say, oh, I want to find a book that's within this genre or whatever, it's hard to distinguish and find out where that is, even though, in theory, we have nothing but reviews, we have nothing but critical content, but it just sort of feels like it's all just one big mushroom of noise that ends up being. If you're going on Twitter, for instance, just scroll, scroll, there's another book, there's the same cover. I've seen 20 times today, kind of going through, and certainly I'm not reading any of that content. Now, granted, I'm not engaging with Twitter or the same extent that other people are, but I am literally just flying through all that stuff and not seeing it anymore, because it all is just that one big mushroom of stuff, rather than telling the world of others.

Speaker 5 1:11:28

That's the thing. Yeah, I follow a bunch of different authors and whatnot and I'll see their stuff and also a lot of them will even stylize their posts in the same way. So just all sorts of bleeds together and I'm like OK.

Speaker 3 1:11:44

And so how do you find a good review or not? Or if there is a good review, I'm almost certainly never seeing it these days from there.

Speaker 5 1:11:52

Oh it's not a review thing, but the one I'm really starting to hate is when they'll try to promote their book and they're like it's like this thing, this thing and this thing. If you liked one of these things and they just combined three different things, they're like it's like Jane Austen meets zombies, meets Highlander or whatever. And I'm like I don't know about that, things like that. Or it's just like they're like if you like Game of Thrones and Samurai, you'll like this, and I'm like I don't think Samurai and Game of Thrones would mesh very well.

Speaker 3 1:12:31

But don't let.

Speaker 4 1:12:34

George do that. The one I keep seeing that I swear I would never do if I ever managed to publish a book is if this book and this book had a baby, what, what are you talking about Kids?

Speaker 5 1:12:52

Rebellion. I did see one I liked. It was from the actual author of the book, sheeran Zhao, iron Widow, and someone's like well, this is just like such and such anime. And she's like well, yeah, I even say as much in the acknowledgments that I wasn't happy with stuff that happened in the last half of that anime. So I wrote my own version of that kind of story to address some of the stuff that I felt was wrong with the show Because of giant robots and things. And she's like wow, this is like way heteronormative and stuff she wasn't happy with. So she went out to write her own story about giant robots and apparently the show creators of the anime even got to read her book when it was translated into Japanese and they liked it. So she's like Mission Accomplished, I guess.

Speaker 5 1:13:57

But yeah, they'll do like it's giant robots and school and warfare and I'm like, OK, I can go watch Gundam for that.

Speaker 3 1:14:12

Yes, it's difficult to be. It's like I don't know. I don't know what fixes that are. Otherwise, I just think that the social media tools that we have just include that the content comes out like this whether that's YouTube, whether it's Twitter, whether it's Facebook, whatever it is, it just comes out in this stream of what is essentially copy paste content in some ways. Well, it might be different books or otherwise, but actually the words are the same, the kind of groupings that you're saying. This is a new Game of Thrones, for instance, like basically every book that was released for about the past 10 years has had that in the cover in some ways, and some traditional published form. It's all the same thing. Or the one I really hit is the book covers that have the now major Netflix series. Oh, my god, can't buy that book. First in the book Can't be picked up. But yeah, they're all the same vehicle, the same machine, same stuff.

Speaker 1 1:15:14

Yeah, I think part of it is too for creators. I think they're incentivized to either be extremely negative or extremely positive. That's what gets, because if you come out with a three star review or a lukewarm review of a popular book, no one's really going to care. I mean, some people will. But if you have a negative review, like you trash it, or you come out and you gush about it, you're going to have more of a response from a negative, from something like that. So I think creators also consider that too, and I'm not saying that's right or wrong, it's just what it is. So it's this weird thing that's happening.

Speaker 5 1:15:56

My work, my department does quality to make sure people that are talking sound like human beings and not robots and try to coach them on hey, what do we want you or an American-based company? We want you to sound like you're American, because unfortunately, a lot of people in the US are not great about that and how they respond to anyone who doesn't sound American. And we recently did a change just with our quality things where we took out scores and so I'm like we just need to take away the star ratings entirely. You know, if you can't actually share your thoughts about it, don't Didn't know, bother, you know, Because the star ratings, you know they're just like oh yeah, I'm gonna do one star or two star or three starts, so yeah, but that doesn't really tell you anything.

Speaker 1 1:16:57

It's true.

Speaker 5 1:17:04

Yeah, so read this book.

Speaker 3 1:17:12

There's another one down the list, alex, of a picture can be a chapter on a bit of yep, yeah, I am devoted to fighting recency bias.

Speaker 5 1:17:23

I am so tired of it. I'm like, oh, look, there's new books coming out. It's like that's great. And we got all these authors with all these books out, so many books out, and you know they're right up your alley and you just don't know about them Because you're only looking at things in the last ten years, not saying anyone here is but no, that's a thing, even the last ten weeks, I think that's another thing is you know you?

Speaker 1 1:17:46

we focus on the new stuff and it's like a new shiny thing, and there was a ton of great stuff out there that's been sitting around waiting for someone to pick it up.

Speaker 3 1:17:55

There's nothing more fun than starting a new project and that, whether that's a new series or otherwise, you start it and then you get a book and you go great and then you village you've committed to do the whole series or otherwise. Maybe it's just not quite as shiny and fun and news it was, which is why things like weed alone groups, except for help, prepare you through that kind of get through but do not by yourself. You've a tendency to kind of go well, pick up the next book of that and next month, the next month turns into next year, turns into whatever, because you're always kind of doing the mood rate of all this thing. Stinking man. I should read this yeah, that kind of Monte Cristo War and peace, or warm peace indeed To my three musketeers. Alexander, do my that with that. One will do me for the moment.

Speaker 6 1:18:47

Oh, Is that. Are you reading that right now?

Speaker 3 1:18:50

No, I just. I keep on flirting with the idea of doing a review. I've read up for actually I read up many, many, many years ago but I keep on floating with the idea of Regreen it because I do quite like three musketeers.

Speaker 6 1:19:03

I want it. So the thing about a lot of these classics is that I had these abridged versions that I read when I was little and I've been wanting to go back and read the full versions and I just never got around to it. And and kind of Monte Cristo and three musketeers want him among my favorites, but how a feeling. I'm gonna really like them as an adult. Yeah, I'm glad I started. Kind of Monte Cristo. I'm going to Aim to finish it. We'll see.

Speaker 4 1:19:37

One thing I've always been kind of proud of is, even as a kid if I picked up a book and it set a bridge on it, I immediately put it back down again.

Speaker 6 1:19:46

Nice. Hmm. I kind of wish I'd done that, but I I don't think we had. At least I never saw them on any of the shelves, the full versions of the books, and I think I was Little enough the, the copies I had with these little square books with a picture on a side and then text. Oh yeah, that it was nice to read as a kid, okay. Okay, I have to head out. Congratulations against the but yeah, I'll see you guys again soon. And yeah, congratulations on 100. He has 100.

Speaker 1 1:20:32

That disruptor has left the building.

Speaker 3 1:20:36

The favorite disruptor? Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1 1:20:41

Yes, I don't know. I just think it's a Well. First, I'm still not convinced whether Parmeeth was trolling us with war and peace or not. I'm just not. I'm not sure if that was a troll's job or if she's really wanted to read it.

Speaker 3 1:20:54

No, I think, parmeet, I was this all the way. I just I'm still most parameters.

Speaker 5 1:21:02

Responses to reading Berserk yeah, so I'm wondering if she actually read these like this is a field you know, like Trolling us. I think you're trolling us.

Speaker 1 1:21:13

Yeah, she talked about it earlier, I think in hour one. She really loved it and she has a hangover. She said she flew through the 41 volumes and she's. She said she really liked it but and then also propelled her to A thousand and one books for the year.

Speaker 5 1:21:38

I Don't know how she does it.

Speaker 4 1:21:41

I don't know either. It's an incomprehensible number to me. I haven't even read a thousand and one words. That's a lot of words. I don't think I've read a thousand books, my life, even like counting comic books and like Single issues and stuff.

Speaker 1 1:21:56

I don't think I've ever not come close to it.

Speaker 4 1:22:03

That's like over, you know four decades.

Speaker 5 1:22:10

I just just slightly I.

Speaker 3 1:22:14

Just just slightly jealous. That's. That's it for me. This from his ability to consume that kind of amount of words is a Much money book series you could get through and be able to talk about and all like that. That sounds kind of cool I.

Speaker 1 1:22:34

Think I've read maybe 40 or 50 books the whole year and I have trouble remembering all of them. I can you mention reading a thousand books in 365 days? What can you for me? I don't know, but I would remember what happened in 99% of them. I.

Speaker 3 1:22:53

Was looking back at the 50 or super that I did read this year month. Why those 50?

Reading Books, Playing Video Games

Speaker 5 1:23:00

Yeah, it's something like. I think my official count on Goodreads was like 35, but I know it was more than that, yeah, but Now I think you're onto something. There is like because you know some of the books she read were you know things I'd read, is too, and I, you know, but you should try to talk about it. You know, I felt like it's like okay, I think you're reading it, but I don't know how well you're absorbing it. You know Kind of, and I don't want to disparage, but I was like just kind of it's like oh, he read it, but did you internalize any of it, or is it gone after five minutes? I Don't know so well, reading that many in a year is like nope.

Speaker 1 1:23:45

Well, I think it's kind of like I looked like Alex spending you know how much time it takes to write a book and how much effort goes into it and how much thought is put into it and all the work and Bloods and sweat and tears and years of thinking it out, and so in a way, I kind of feel bad when I when I'm rushing through something because, like somebody put a lot of time into this, I should take my time and and really try to like soak it in and like Bathe in it and not just try to rush through it because someone spent a lot of time making this and I you know, I want to kind of take it in.

Speaker 4 1:24:19

I mean the first book I wrote, the healer, which is the one you've read, steve, that took me. It's just over a hundred thousand words. It took me in total three years to write Self-edit, rewrite a bit self-edit, a bit more, and I thought, after three years, what I come up with was, you know, this amazing final article. I thought, my god, this is brilliant. I'll Send it to a developmental editor just to make sure that the story tracks. She's not gonna find much. So I sent off to a developmental editor with a thousand pounds my money and she came back and said, yeah, the story hangs together quite well. Here's a 30 page document full of things you need to change.

Speaker 3 1:25:12

Jeepers.

Speaker 4 1:25:15

Well, she said you should change. In my opinion, it's your book. I can't make you change them, but you've paid me the money, so here's what I think you should.

Speaker 3 1:25:25

This is what you pay me for. That's before. Varsha's got all our our typos on it. Yeah, jeez.

Speaker 1 1:25:36

The beat like it.

Speaker 3 1:25:38

I just checked I've done 266 movies this year, which is an absurd amount of movies. So everybody has can have their own little Little rabbit hole to go down, like I've had it, taking the time that I was to 266 movies in just read books with them. You know that's a a lot more books, probably as well.

Speaker 4 1:26:01

If I added up all the time I've spent on PS5 and laptop gaming over the last year, I probably could have read quite a few books.

Speaker 5 1:26:14

That's what comes down to Gaming stuff. I'm like I play one. You know came up in one of our Friday conversations. You know, the other week I play a heavily story based MMOs, so you know in the amount of time I spend on the story parts for it you know, I'm in between those, but I'll have another chunk coming up in January probably, but Easily the whole story, for it is like 300 hours of Of playtime and that's only, if you like. Didn't consider. You know constantly and I'm like you know.

Speaker 5 1:26:50

It's a really good story, but you know it's also a lot of time investment. Plus you're doing other stuff and I like I'm not gonna do the story right now. But yeah, that PS5 switch. You know Random games of Tetris that I open up in my browser when I'm bored at work, or Time spent playing with Transformers because I'm like Tinkering with them, but I don't know. I think this year I'm gonna try to read more books and I'm just gonna like pick things up off my shelf and you know, not try to like make a list or something. I'm just like Just gonna pick up on read whatever I want.

Speaker 4 1:27:31

I Think the worst game I think I know that the worst game for me Because it was the only game the little group I usually play online with it's the only game we could all agree on. I've got some like 1700 hours clocked in playing overwatch. Oh, it's just because it's the only game we could all agree on. Yeah, I.

Speaker 5 1:27:57

I Haven't looked at what my play time is for Final Fantasy 14, but I know, before I abandoned it because I couldn't stand, you know, not because of story or anything, I just played with some people. I knew I had put a ridiculous amount of time into World of Warcraft, jen. I'm just looking back at now, it's like man, that was time I could have spent doing just about anything and you know, I didn't even have the advantage of you know 14 and having a really good story to you know, cuz it's just like World of Warcraft, story is mostly garbage. Yeah. Go to play some map.

Speaker 4 1:28:40

I don't know how long it took me, but I'd platinum, skyrim and oblivion, so I basically played them until I've got every achievement. I Wow, good games, though, very good, brilliant games I'll just download. I actually downloaded oblivion on my laptop because I haven't got a console to play it on anymore, because I had that on the Xbox 360 and it was only 3 pound 99 on steam for the game of the year edition. So I Think it. I'd download that and yeah. I'm trying not to play it all the time.

Speaker 1 1:29:21

It's great game though.

Speaker 4 1:29:22

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:29:26

Great game. Skyrim keeps adding things to it. They keep busy new stuff on.

Speaker 3 1:29:35

Shop nice. Yeah, I'd probably go back to playing a couple of hours of Doris this weekend, as usual. Then we will hit six thousand something. Ours this year. Jeez, it's 12 years though.

Speaker 1 1:29:53

That's not too bad, I guess yeah, that's the government.

Speaker 3 1:29:57

Average it out like 2012. I started playing it. That's. It's still the bulk of majority of time that I spend and a bit like you were saying there, alex, you know about it for watch. It's become a social thing. It's a social thing of getting on and spending time with people, rather than necessarily about the game itself. It's even the game is fun. I worry much more about playing games that I objectively critically going. This is pure. Why am I playing this game still like I was playing a bit of a Goose war took you or there on it handles like an absolute. The combat's terrible, the story is short of interesting, but I'm like here's another ten hours I have sunk into this game and it's objectively not very good.

Speaker 4 1:30:38

I had so much hope for that game. I thought here we go, we've got a new bio shock. Yeah and it's just not.

Speaker 3 1:30:47

It just doesn't handle well enough to be a top tier game or anything. It's just. But there are interesting ideas and it's story beats etc. But I worry much more about the ten hours that I put into that than the nearly six thousand hours that I put into a game that I logo and play with friends Occasionally, argue with them, fall out with them for 24 hours, come back on and then all forgiven. You know it's fine.

Speaker 1 1:31:14

Yeah, I think online gaming it changed that too, because it became more about the social aspect rather than game. You know just a little bit an excuse to hang out.

Speaker 3 1:31:23

Yeah, that's it.

Speaker 4 1:31:26

And all of my remaining real life. Friends are people that I game with socially. Yeah, they just happen to not live that far away from me, so we'll meet up every now and then for things like birthdays and stuff.

Speaker 3 1:31:43

It's a novel 2023 concept of real life. Friends, I tell oh yeah.

Speaker 1 1:31:56

Also earlier now that we're just thinking about the reviewer and reviewer and author separation relationship is also. Joe had mentioned that. If, for instance, if you, if you know you don't enjoy YA, for you to pick up knowingly pick up a YA book and Then write it, write a negative, one-star review because the book is YA, is that some of these should do as a reader.

Speaker 4 1:32:31

The whole question baffled me because if I know I don't like YA, I'm not gonna pick it up in first place. I'm just not gonna do it. Maybe it's Something that reviewer would do because they would go well, I'll give it another go, because I didn't like that one, but I might like this one. But I Don't have the same drive to read every book under the sun, so I just Wouldn't bother picking up in the first place because I know I'm not gonna enjoy it or waste my time on it.

Speaker 3 1:33:12

Yeah, the star ratings, the very crux of star ratings. Star ratings aren't Don't come out of a vacuum. So your predisposition to a genre or to a character style, or even to how something's written, will Influence what your score of a book will be compared to the next person. So at that point, what's point? What's the point? They've been putting the star rating on it.

Speaker 3 1:33:36

We have far better ways of doing it, which in theory should be words, but again, we don't really give ourselves the opportunity to look at words there are look at sort of you know qualitative descriptions of things, rather than Boil it down to this is a three out of five or a four out of five?

Speaker 5 1:33:54

I think it's easily digestible bites. You know they can't be bothered to read something. I get time for that. I can go back to look at cat pictures. Yeah, it's true.

Speaker 5 1:34:07

Also, and I'm just saying that, I really just kind of hate YA as a genre in general. On the label, you know as the label, because I Don't know it's like it. I Don't know the why is it exists right now just sort of spring up. But it's like when I started reading fantasy and you know what, not, you know there really wasn't. You know there wasn't really a genre, it or whatever, and it's like, and so I see all these do YA books and they all feel kind of same Me to me. I'm like, okay, so this is all call us kind of the same thing.

Speaker 5 1:34:42

And you know, when I get something that is, you know, you know you could tell if something was aimed at you know a younger audience, but you know, yeah, there wasn't like the stigma around it or anything. It's just like it was just written. It's like I guess people would kind of shove. You know, like I don't know Susan Cooper's, the darkest rising sequence into you know YA now, or Her diandwans, you know young wizards and I'm like, but I don't really feel like either of those are young adult, you know, as the genre defines itself now. So that's kind of hate the label.

Speaker 4 1:35:25

Hmm, coming at it from the other side of the argument, as a writer, I would want as many people as possible to pick up and read my book because obviously the work would be so great it would convert them all to loving my book. Plus, I'd be able to buy that extra ivory back scratcher I've always wanted.

Speaker 3 1:35:47

See, there's almost two sides to every argument.

Speaker 5 1:35:53

You see, with ivory back scratcher, should do what the, the guys who made the you know, card game cards against humanity, but they did one year or for a couple years. They're like we're raising money for Christmas presents and you know, and they're like, here and here's how you can help us do that, and they they, you know Put up for you, basically donate, and they just outright told them that all you're getting is an empty box and we're gonna spend all this money to buy presents and people just ate it up. And Then they and we will categorize everything we bought. And then they bought some weird stuff, like, but people just ate it up. They're like, yeah, you, so it's like you can literally that's the crazy thing you literally go on the internet and say like I need to go fund me to buy my ivory back scratcher and you will. You know you can probably find people who will be like, oh okay.

Speaker 4 1:36:55

That's a scary thought that people are willing to just part with money for nothing.

Speaker 5 1:37:03

Yeah, but I mean and some people probably do it because I think it's funny, you know, because, uh, the cards you can see on me, they're like we're going to send you a box with, you know, the smell of poop in it or something. I don't remember what it was, but it was something stupid. And you know, some people like, oh okay, that's funny, I'll do that and because I thought it was funny, but they're, you know, they were clear. And some people complained and like and the cards against you, any people were like we told you you weren't getting anything. We were explicitly clear about that.

Speaker 5 1:37:40

So the thing on eBay, when it was like PS4 was really or PS3 or whatever it was, people were like oh yeah, the people who the scammers on eBay are like yeah, we're going to sell you the box, and they try to word it in such a way to, you know, make you think you're actually getting it, but you're just getting an empty box.

Speaker 4 1:37:57

And we're doing that on Amazon with a PS5 as well, Because I remember reading what I'm thinking. But that's just a box. How is Amazon allowing this?

Speaker 1 1:38:12

It's really strange the way that Amazon's changed, because it's now you have sellers that sell on Amazon and the. I think there was a certain bar that Amazon had before. That just isn't there anymore, but these third party sellers has become something else that you can really careful with what you order now.

Speaker 5 1:38:41

Like I could see an instance. You know, if you're selling a box of something you know, you know like it's just empty box and if you're just upfront about it because you know there are people who will want to be like, well, I'm, you know I want to. You know I have an original PlayStation but I don't have the box anymore and they'll go on to eBay looking for the box and you could be like sell your original. You know PS2 box. You know, like my friend, you know getting stuff out of storage. You know I have a original PS, slim PS2, complete with this box and everything. And so I was like, yeah, I can just like put that up on eBay. Probably, just put the box up and someone would snatch it up because they want to have a box for their PS2.

Speaker 4 1:39:25

Well, you know, there's a sensible option of a moving house and I need some boxes. So I went on to Amazon and bought a stack of 15 unmade boxes and some parcel tape. Job done, yeah.

Speaker 5 1:39:43

Yeah.

Speaker 4 1:39:44

I still need every box I could scrounge up because, as I mentioned earlier, I have definitely got over a thousand books. Wow. But not right, not at all. If I ever unpack them, I will have a library, oh yeah, but you know we've only been here for years almost, so you know we haven't even expected to unpack the spare room yet.

Speaker 3 1:40:15

Yeah, but again, once they become the famous author and you know our magazine are doing the tour of the house you know you'll have to have all of the books out there, you know.

Speaker 4 1:40:26

Yeah, obviously I'll show that I'm educated in literature.

Speaker 5 1:40:32

Yeah, get yourself to you know entire like loft space and put bookshelves on just line the walls with it. Yeah, be really fancy and get one of those rolling ladders.

Speaker 4 1:40:44

Oh, that would be brilliant. That's the dream. That is the dream.

Speaker 5 1:40:47

Just to go along, then you can reenact from, you know, beauty and the Beast. We just get on the ladder and just roll.

Speaker 3 1:40:55

Yeah, I like how Beauty and the Beast is the height of literary over-the-top. You know capitalism, you know, imagine being just in the base.

Speaker 5 1:41:07

Well, I mean, look at the library he had that he just like here you can have my whole library and he had a huge library. I'm like I want that library.

Speaker 1 1:41:23

Well, guys, I think we're in on five and a half hours.

Speaker 3 1:41:27

You're hitting five and a half hours. Alex is hitting five and a half hours as well.

Speaker 1 1:41:30

Alex too. Yeah, Alex has been hanging out like the whole time.

Speaker 5 1:41:32

I've just been here an hour and a half.

Speaker 1 1:41:37

That's it, no that she came before that.

Speaker 5 1:41:40

I came in just before three.

Speaker 3 1:41:42

So easy, easy, bigotry, bigotry met those 100 episodes of.

Speaker 5 1:41:50

Yes.

Speaker 1 1:41:51

That's a lot. That's a lot of it. It's a lot of episodes. Yeah, it's been fun, I think, about two years, about two years Wow.

Speaker 4 1:42:01

I think, did you think you'd hit 100 episodes when you started?

Speaker 1 1:42:07

No, no, I don't even think about it. I just thought like week to week and just see what happens. But when I hit 50, it's like maybe, maybe, maybe.

Speaker 3 1:42:21

It's. The dumb idea is, when you hit a milestone, you're like I've got to do something big, yeah. And then you do something big and you realize you wake up tomorrow, steve, and you'll be like I can't speak, this is gone why.

Speaker 1 1:42:34

No, thankfully there's lots of great people who like to talk, so I don't have to speak too much, so I'm good. No, I wanted to do something fun and have a chance for everyone in different time zones to come, because it's hard for certain time zones to join. So I just thought we'll do like a, like a you know, different blocks and then hopefully everyone can, whoever wants to join can and just kind of hang out and talk shit. Just have a good time.

Speaker 3 1:43:02

Some of us are very good at that.

New Year and Writing Progress Thoughts

Speaker 1 1:43:05

Yes, very much so. So I guess, to finish off, let's. So we're heading up. At the time of this recording, we're almost into 2024. Something that I think about every year is, you know, I hear, like new year, new me on. What had I really like to believe that's the case, like you really want to feel like you have a fresh start and you really go into the new year. You know, hits midnight and you think, well, it's a new year, like it's a fresh start, and then the same problems you had the day before are still around. So I want to ask all of you, do you what are your thoughts on the new year? Do you think of it as a fresh start? Is it just another day?

Speaker 3 1:43:48

So sometimes some years, yes, it is a good opportunity to really put a full stop on something and say like, from this point on, doesn't necessarily have to be the first of January, it'll be just that general Christmas period where everybody kind of does extravagance or does, enjoys the remnants of whatever it is they're going to do, and then moves in the idea right from now and we're going to do this and it could be. You know, militarily can be health-wising, be lots of different things. So I have used it a couple of times in the past for that, but by and large in general I'm just happy enough to survive another year.

Speaker 5 1:44:31

Sometimes, but also like right after the you know this is kind of, you know, sad and depressing, but after the first couple of months of the year, for me personally, historically, have, you know, not had the best things happen. So you know, and my birthday comes up in February and I've always had, you know, unfortunately, I've had some pretty bad things happen around my birthday historically. So I'm just like I just try to get past the holiday, I just like move my first of the year to some other part of the year. It's like my year starts in March or something I don't know.

Speaker 4 1:45:16

For me it's something similar. It's not the first of January. That makes me think right now I need to do something or achieve this. It's a couple of weeks in when I hit my birthday and think crap, I'm another year older and I still haven't actually done anything yet.

Speaker 1 1:45:32

That's not true. I think you've accomplished more than most people do. Just the work you're doing. Yeah, you should proud of yourself. You've done a lot.

Speaker 4 1:45:39

Once it's something he's published, then I'll might take a moment to be proud of it. Yeah.

Speaker 5 1:45:47

Well, you know, I think, from what I understand, you're in a much better position for that than I. Am the stuff I want, ready and just like. Yeah, I don't even want to show it to people because it's just complete mess. I still didn't finish it, the last part of it, so and then organize it into something logical and make sense. Nice.

Speaker 1 1:46:10

I think most authors have said that your first draft is always a mess, just to like you know, so you're on the right path.

Speaker 3 1:46:21

You keep the word, the word, the word keeps on ticking up, alex, and that's the that's the hard part, that's the bit that most people don't keep on doing.

Speaker 4 1:46:29

I have, if I can just grab this, because it's very dark in here now. I can't actually see anything, so another book might land on me. This is my book of notes. Oh, wow. So that's what I plan to be working on just in one of my universes, right, nice. I don't think I've got a list of the books in the other universe, which is at the front of the book no Diane, but I've got two triloges and three stand-alones planned in my other universe as well.

Speaker 3 1:47:10

That is a very cool tomb-looking notebook as well.

Speaker 4 1:47:15

It has that, yeah, it's even got a little catch on it.

Speaker 3 1:47:20

Grimoire-ish Yep, yep.

Speaker 4 1:47:22

Yeah, it was. It's all about aesthetics. It's dreadful to write in, but that's where that's my ideas book. Every time I come up, I mean, it's always the same process. I come up with something that sounds like a book, so I write it down, and then, as soon as I write down the title of the book, I'll go after my brain or work on it for a bit, and I'll come back a couple of days later and go right, this is the end of this book. And then when I eventually get around to writing it, I'll make everything else up as I go along. Nice, it's a lot of process.

Speaker 4 1:47:59

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:48:02

Drill and process.

Speaker 4 1:48:03

And that is as far from what I'm aware. That's a panzers approach to writing. You know plotters and panzers.

Speaker 1 1:48:14

Yeah, everyone has their own process, whatever works for you. But, yeah, we're excited to see where your journey takes you. Alex, we hope you keep us updated.

Speaker 4 1:48:24

Oh, I'll still be posting little ridiculous puns and snippets on the forum for people to read and tell me how much it's like Pratchett.

Speaker 1 1:48:35

That's a compliment.

Speaker 4 1:48:36

Yeah, it is. Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 3 1:48:39

If people can recognize it as being very Pratchett-y, then you're obviously doing something, something right about it. I think, like you said it yourself, it's very hard, not the right humorously, but like being Pratchett-esque because it is quite literary, you know that's. I think that's quite true.

Speaker 4 1:48:56

And he was just such a master at it.

Speaker 1 1:49:01

I want to thank all of you for hanging out. It's been a long journey. I thought we've made it to 100, but I hope we'll do it again soon and I think we'll be trying to wrap up 2023 soon. So, if anyone can make it but cool. So in the meantime, Chris, where can people find you?

Speaker 3 1:49:24

You could probably find me on my YouTube channel. If they decided to release any videos for the end of the year, I probably should get on that the next next day or two. Otherwise, you can find me on the Patreon forums or probably in a future Friday conversation at some stage.

Speaker 1 1:49:39

Yeah, hopefully. I hate to bother you all the time, but yeah, and Chibipo.

Speaker 5 1:49:47

You can find me on page chewing. I'm on Twitter, I'm Goodreads2. And I don't know if you can direct message someone on Goodreads, but I can be found there.

Speaker 1 1:50:03

Maybe you'll show your transformer collection with us on the forum.

Speaker 5 1:50:08

Yeah, I have a little table over here I need to put out because I want to take a picture of some of them, and so I'm going to show some of them off sometime soon. You can see all the Optimus Prime. Why do you have so many different versions of the same character, the same figure? And I'm like, because it's Optimus Prime?

Speaker 1 1:50:29

Like why not? Yeah, why not? And Alex, tell us where people can find you and where can they? Is there any place you're posting updates, or is it just on the forum?

Speaker 4 1:50:41

Most of my updates these days on the forum. I am on Twitter and I do look at it every now and then. I comment a bit more on Blue Sky than I do on Twitter, but yeah, mostly. If you want to read any of the stuff I've added then it's all on the forum. Just search for the word cozy and it will come up.

Speaker 1 1:51:02

Yeah, definitely. Yes, you can find me on pageduringcom this place to find me and all the updates are there on the blog or join our forums, if you're not already there, to join us for a future Friday. But thanks all of you. I really appreciate you guys spending taking time out of your day and hanging out and just kind of started the new year and it just kind of lined up to have 100 episodes at the end of 2023. But people listening to this will be 2024. Either way, I really appreciate it and we'll talk very soon. Thanks everyone who dropped by on the stream and posted comments and hung out with us. Really appreciate you as well. We'll talk to everyone soon.