David O. Steele, A Quest for Magic and Steele – Episode 117

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Voice actor, narrator and RPG actual play podcast Host David O. Steele is one of the crew of the podcast, A Quest for Magic and Steele. In each episode, David and five others create a tale of sword and sorcery, elves and dwarves, using the fifth edition of the Dungeons and Dragons RPG rules. They get paid to play via a Patreon page created in December 2016.

I’ve been catching up on A Quest For Magic And Steele for the past few months and it’s always fun listening to David portray his character, Gnu Gnu, a gnome bard with a mouth quite big enough to fit both his feet in, which he does regularly and gleeflully.

Join us for a chat about approaching Patreon as a podcaster, David’s next projects, the joy of discovering roleplaying games through your children and repurposing content for Patreon!

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Saffron Bryant, Self-Published Science Fiction and Fantasy Author – Episode 116

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Australian science fiction and fantasy author Saffron Bryant has been writing since she could first hold a pencil but only started getting serious in 2011. Saffron’s first book, The Fallen Star, was released in 2012 after Saffron was forced to take leave from her studies in biomedical science at uni while recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumour.

Now, at the age of twenty-six, Saffron has fifteen novels available for sale on Amazon, a degree in Biomedical Science (with honours) and has just finished her PhD in chemistry at the University of Sydney. As of last year Saffron earned enough royalties to pay all her bills.

In her spare time, Saffron is a huge fan of multiple fandoms, including The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones and Stephen King (especially The Dark Tower). She also plays Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs and even tabletop ones like Dungeons & Dragons.

Join Saffron and I as we get back together (after our chat for Episode 16) for a great chat about the first fiction you write, how writing is the perfect cure for the boredom of convalescence and the process of screening editors – not to mention a geek-out about Doctor Who!

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State of Play: Thank You for 1,000+ Downloads in April!

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An audio AND video thank-you from your humble host to all the wonderful folks who made April an unexpectedly massive month – even with the schedule change from weekly to fortnightly!

Dean Rankine, Writer and Artist on The Simpsons Comic Books – Episode 115

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Australian comic artist and writer Dean Rankine has contributed work to the Dark Horse Comics title Hellboy, the classic UK kids’ comics Beano and Dandy, and the Australian MAD Magazine, but he is best known for his work on the official comic books of the animated mega-hit TV series, The Simpsons, published by Bongo Comics. You can often find him at Australian pop culture conventions creating commissioned “Simpsonised” portraits of con-goers.

Dean has also created his own title, the twisted comic book Itty Bitty Bunnies in Rainbow Pixie Candy Land, published by Action Lab.

Join us for a chat about setting goals for publishing your comic, showing your kids how to follow a creative path and moving from comics to storyboarding!

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Ryan Schapals, Head Minion at Hyper RPG – Episode 114

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Production manager and writer Ryan Schapals works for the LA online media studio Hyper RPG. His job is to turn tabletop roleplaying games into live performance-based narrative experiences on the video streaming website Twitch.

Prior to joining the HyperRPG team, Ryan worked with computer game company Harebrained Schemes as a writer for the app-enhanced tabletop miniatures game Golem Arcana. Right now he’s juggling his minion duties at Hyper RPG building the world of Amaurea’s Dawn for a new tabletop roleplaying game rule set, Open Legend.

Join us for a chat about the second-guessing voices in the back of your head, getting into roleplaying games through Neverwinter Nights, turning down the opportunity to be on-screen talent and the zen experience of doing the dishes!

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Mariah Avix, 600 Second Saga – Episode 113

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Podcaster, voice talent and author Mariah Avix is the creator of the podcast, 600 Second Saga; a space for developing authors to explore the realms of science fiction and fantasy in 10 minutes or less every week. On March 20th, 2017, Mariah celebrated the first anniversary of 600 Second Saga, having released an episode a week for the last fifty-two weeks! After a short break, the show will return for its second season on April 5th!

Mariah also narrates audiobooks and writes magical tales of how technology will change our world, and technologically laced tales of magic that probably isn’t real.

Join us for a great chat about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the division of trust between writer and reader, how current references can become future Easter eggs, getting to the meat of the story in 1,000 words, the benefits of pre-planning your podcast and working diversity into your freelance portfolio – and keep listening after the chat wraps for one of Mariah’s flash fiction works, “An Axe”!

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S.R. Ringuette, Webcomic Writer and Artist – Episode 112

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S.R. Ringuette is author/illustrator/cartoonist and educator who, from his hometown of Calgary, Alberta, attempts to use creativity as a secret staircase to subvert traditional employment. His lifelong love of cartooning turned into making comics as an adult and eventually teaching kids and teens to do the same.

Sebastien has created a comic series, The Aversion Bureau, that has become two collections and even a pair of novels. He also created the web comic Gamer Roommates and in November 2016 launched a new web comic, It Has Pictures! Since then, Sebastien has been posting new witty art based on whatever takes his fancy and doing freelance design work for web series, podcasts and friends in between.

Join us for a great chat about the perfect storm of arrogance and ignorance, the importance of loving your own work, knowing when to step away from the things you love doing and how nothing matters more than the personal touch!

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Neil Rennison, Tin Man Games – Episode 111

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Game director, producer, writer and designer Neil Rennison is the original founder of Tin Man Games, a company that brings the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks of Eighties childhoods back to life as apps. Neil has worked in the computer and video games industry for over fifteen years. He’s been involved in over fifty published games including such high profile titles as the Need For Speed series, Nascar series, The Sims series and the Tiger Woods Golf series for a variety of platforms including iPhone, DS, PSP, and Wii.

Neil has had a number of articles published in 3D World magazine & PC Format, has dabbled in university lecturing, is an adjudicator for government funding in games, and has given talks at various gaming conventions and gatherings of the International Game Developers Association.

Listen in for a great chat about the snowball effect, going freelance in the video game industry, being asked by the superstar in your business to adapt one of his works and that odd sensation of, “I could be perfectly happy staying where I am now – but…”

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Tony Bonner: A Career in Acting – Episode 110

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Veteran stage and screen actor Tony Bonner is known worldwide for playing helicopter pilot Jerry King in the classic Australian TV series, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Tony’s had a long career in the performing arts and continues to appear on TV, in movies, in theatres and on the web today. Earlier this year (and after our chat), Tony was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours list.

Thanks to my guest Travis Bain, I was lucky enough to catch Tony in late 2016 when he was in Cairns as part of his endeavour to pass his skills and experience on to actors-in-training across the country (and perform in Travis’ upcoming film Landfall). We chat about Tony’s dream role, the worldwide reach of Skippy and how little an actor’s career changes over fifty years!

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