It’s been quite a bit since I last made a character deep dive, but since I got a bit more time on my hands, here we are! Today’s Character Analysis is about Levana from Vampire Girl by Marie Kerns and J_Scarbrough!

So, first things first! Vampire Girl is ...

We talk a lot about Franchises here because those have been the big, widely known movies/stories in the culture in recent years.

But it's not all about Franchises - one thing that a standalone story can do, and occasionally does, is have an ending that changes the world forever ...

Photo: “Windmills through the Passenger Side Window”. Photo taken by me. (June 2022).

“When June came
The grasses headed out
And turned brown,
And the hills turned brown
Which was not a brown
But a gold and saffron
And red—
An indescribable color.
And from then on until the next ...

my webcomic, Typical Strange, uses many fake films in its video store setting

A few years ago I spotted a book in the second hand store - one I'd read as a kid. I bought it and reread it. It was definitely more suited to the younger me - it was ...

LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher ​​- https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/

The Quackcast this week is about entitled bossy Karens. In fact it was originally going to BE “the Karencast” but the whole “Karen” thing is a bit ...

Photo: “Pile of Crayola Colors of the World Crayons and Coloured Pencils.” (April 2023)

An unplanned visit to the grocery store led me down the food-less office supply aisle where clearance stickers covered half the supplies hung on wired metal racks. A thought ran through my head to justify the ...

Entitlement. Privilege. Obnoxiousness.

We all deal with these things every day, whether we want to or not. It comes in all shapes and sizes. From the kid that throws a tantrum if they can't take some other random kid's toy to the adult that is pissed they stole ...

In the latest episode of Star Trek Picard, a character talks about his efforts to prolong his own life in a way I won't spoil. He lets go of this idea, and in the message he leaves behind, he says "Evolution is not about preservation - it's about addition ...

Ok so here we are! Let’s get down into the weeds with Typical Strange’s TK!

…did that come out wrong? I’m sure TK would have a thing or two to say.

So, first things first. Typical Strange is the lovely creation of Banes. It’s a comedy ...

Conflict!

It's the essential building block of drama. You don't have a story without the basics of “someone wants something, and something's in the way of getting it.”

Screenwriting books - books I really love and have given me a lot - will often say that amping up the ...