Jakkal Designs 100th Episode shirt 2021

Episode 194 – Interview with Peter Sartucci

Peter Sartucci is a Boulder, CO game writer turned author. He of the Shadow fantasy series set in Silbar – a land of wonder and magic. He has five books in the series focusing on Sir Kirin DiUmbra, the Left Hand of the king (who secretly is his twin brother). Peter talks to us about storytelling constructs he learned from gaming, world building, why to keep your first novel around, and how he approaches writing descriptive prose. Use all your senses! … Continue…Episode 194 – Interview with Peter Sartucci

Jakkal Designs 100th Episode shirt 2021

Episode 189 – Interview with PL Hayes

PL Hayes has self-published a gumshoe trilogy in the style of Stout, Hammitt, and Cross – the Odd Jobs set. We enjoyed the familiarity of chatting with an old friend about his path from writing games and LARP adventures into modern crime dramas. You’ll like Cameron, and if you’re like us you’ll wonder about where he met up with his companions before the writing started. Paul draws pictures of Colorado mountain towns with a heart full of love, and it shows in his words. … Continue…Episode 189 – Interview with PL Hayes

Jakkal Designs 100th Episode shirt 2021

Episode 178 – Dr. Alan Wu Reads Us A Story

In this episode, Dr. Alan Wu reads to us a story about a real-live toxicology case study. It’s fascinating to delve into the world of doping and toxicology reports – and for all your writers out there, understanding HOW doping and discovery works can make the difference between a really good story and something that makes doctors, nurses, or scientists roll their eyes. From doping to posthumous blood screens and “toxicology” reports, enjoy gaining some insight on how laboratories really work, and gain a cautionary tale on the topic of sports doping. … Continue…Episode 178 – Dr. Alan Wu Reads Us A Story

Jakkal Designs 100th Episode shirt 2021

Episode 177 – Interview with Dr. Alan Wu

Dr. Alan Wu is a professor of lab medicine at UCSF and the Lab Director at San Francisco General Hospital. He’s written over 500 peer-reviewed papers in scientific and medical journals – and now is taking that factual background experience and creating forensic procedural fiction with an emphasis on scientific accuracy. With an eye toward the world learning more about proper lab work and methodology, and not unconscious of the effect House and Bones have had on TV, he has published his own book of speculative science fiction short stories – Mind Portal. If you love science, time travel, and “What If” speculation, you’ll love it! … Continue…Episode 177 – Interview with Dr. Alan Wu

Jakkal Designs 100th Episode shirt 2021

Episode 172 – Make the Adventure you want to play in: GM talk with Norman Lutes

In which we discuss how to write – and run – good role-playing games with Norman Lutes (He/him). GMing and game writing have a lot in common with good story writing. For example: Reading is to writing as playing is to GMing.
And: “What do you start with? A story? A setting?” …smacks of Plotting vs Pantsing or Game-mastering is a combination of critical path project management and storytelling in the fireside tradition or Writing a game is like writing software – spend the majority of your time planning for exceptions and errors.
And: Spoon-feeding vs. player involvement: it’s a balance or You can lead players back to the path if they go astray. But you need to have done some world-building, or at least world-stealing. Don’t forget to file off the serial numbers or If you ask your players for their characters’ backstories, don’t be surprised if they’re not interested when you fold it into the story.
Bonus: Role-playing via email: The story, backstory, player’s interests, and world-building all come together. AND it’s self-documenting! … Continue…Episode 172 – Make the Adventure you want to play in: GM talk with Norman Lutes

Jakkal Designs 100th Episode shirt 2021

Episode 166 – An Interview with Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr.

Dr. Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr. has written a book on the fascinating topic of jazz, and the perspective of musicologists as their approach to studying black music history has changed through the years. His new book Who Hears Here? is a collection of essays that celebrates the history of jazz and performers through the ages, using the thoughtful lens of modern perspective on race, sexism, regionalism, and more. The contemporary era of black music inquiry is a thoughtful one that must examine implications of race, sex, politics, world history and movement, and sociology, and his essays on the topic as well as his approach are a delight. … Continue…Episode 166 – An Interview with Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr.

Jakkal Designs 100th Episode shirt 2021

Episode 151 – The Art & Business of Writing with Chris Jones

Chris Jones started his career as a sports writer, who branched out into other journalism, then editing, and wrote one of the best books we love on the business end of your writing career. Chris writes the truth: There is no 3-minute montage that works to make you a bestselling author. And his biggest lesson from 20 years of professional writing is that you have to go all business once you submit it. … Continue…Episode 151 – The Art & Business of Writing with Chris Jones