Brand Gamblin – channeler of Cthonic Deities and crafter of marvelous tales of all genres – returns to the Big Chair at the Roundtable to help us workshop a story of biblical proportions… a superhero powered by God. The tale is offered up by veteran podcaster and audio fictioneer Clay Dugger and proved to be a marvelous springboard into a discussion about presenting faith in fiction, working or avoiding tropes, and developing suspense and pacing in your story. Everyone had a blast exploring the delightful terrain of this intriguing tale… and, of course, there’s an abundance of Literary Gold to be had! (and make the time to check out Brand’s Showcase Episode, too!)
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Workshop Episode 32 (Guest Host: Brand Gamblin)
[caution: mature language – listener discretion is advised]
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:19:46 — 54.8MB)
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Brand’s brand of awesomeness…
- Brand’s current literary goodness
- Tumbler (SciFi)
- The Hidden Institute (grand adventure in an alternate future)
- Discount Miracles (slipstream sci-fi / fantasy)
- Working on a sequel to “The Hidden Institute” titled “Invito Rex“
- In the process, he’s created a chess variant with a circular game board
- He’s also started writing music for the series!
Upcoming Conventions for Brand…
Clay Dugger’s Legacy of Awesomeness
- Tales featured on the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine and Tales of World War Z
- His story “The Sunshine Walker” was recognized in the Writers Journal 2002 short story contest
- His audio production work can be found at Must be Nice Studios
- Check out his audio adaptation of “Who Goes There”
- He’s the host of the Righteous Dude podcast at therighteousdude.wordpress.com
- He also is the “Him” in the podcast “This and That with Him and Her” on the ChronicRift network
Wonderful! You three really did help a lot!
I really liked this episode. This was one of those where the give and take was quite good. Nice chemistry, and a very interesting sounding story.
One thing: about the people talking to the MC when under the influence of Legion – it reminded me strongly of the 1998 Denzel Washington movie Fallen (Which I happen to really like) because that’s sort of what happens as a demon who can jump from living body to living body taunts Denzel’s character through the voices of random people on the street. I don’t say this to dissuade you from doing something similar but as a suggestion for something you might want to watch if you never have (or haven’t in a long time) to see something similar played out for you on screen to help get some ideas for how you want to do it.
Fallen was a pretty good movie. Loved the twist at the end. Not quite what I am going for, but close. Thanks for listening!
I guess after getting a couple of shout-outs this episode I better comment.
Well, let’s start with saying that I am a Christian, but I am typically not a fan of Christian-Supernatural Fiction (or whatever the correct name for this genre is). My reason for that is typically in those types of stories the only way to have “power” is to either A) Make a deal with a devil/demon; or B) Be chosen by God. That’s it, no third option. Nothing created by humans, through talent, training, or technology can measure up. Those aren’t stories I am interested in.
Clay made a very good point that he is not telling a story about the preparing for the Heaven or “saving souls”. He is telling a story about this world, the “Here & Now”. In the “Here & Now” there are lots of ways for people to have power: knowledge is power, money is power, hard work is power, faith is power. I am fine with having a hero who gets his power from God, so long as that is not the only way to be a hero in the “Here & Now”.
With all that, it should come as no surprise that I am fully in favor of Meridith being an inner-city nurse, who believes in non-violent solutions to problems. The scene where Peter tries to “save” her from a gang and ends up screwing things up sounds great.
Early on Dave suggested that having the mentor be a priest who was into boxing and was also a fan of comic books was a little “convenient”. However considering this story happens in a world where divine intervention exists, then “convenient” or “coincidence” doesn’t have to be seen as the “hand of the author” it can be the “hand of God”. You don’t want to overuse that reason, but certainly with a priest you can have some leeway. I am not a fan of making the priest a centuries old “failed” hero.
Having Peter’s brother sacrifice himself to save Peter and stop Legion at the climax would be a nice twist.
A fascinating premise. The plot and characters were very interesting. I would like to hear the finished result.
The best advice I can think of to not come across as preachy, would be to concentrate on telling a good story. Nothing in the program sounded offensive to me. I don’t think that will be a problem.
The priest as a boxer didn’t sound convenient to me. That is an established character going back to The Dead End Kids movies of the 1930’s. However, I think making him also a comic book fan would be unnecessary and muddle his character.
I like the idea that the priest was once chosen to fight Legion but failed. I don’t think his failure necessarily has to come from some great “fatal flaw” or lack of faith. It would be entirely believable if Legion just outwitted him or got in a lucky punch, so now the priest, older and not quite up to getting into the ring with a demon, has to train the next guy.
I like the nurse as a counter-balance to the priest. I can see her tapping Peter on the shoulder and suggesting that maybe throwing a semi truck at a demon that can pick it up and throw it back might not be the best strategy. On the other side, maybe the priest counsels him to throw harder as the best strategy.
Making Peter balance the two could be an important part of his character arc.
Lastly, at the risk of writing the story for you, I was intrigued with the idea that as Legion is many, so the force of good is many, or at least three. A group of people who voluntarily suppress personal desires and preconceptions for a greater cause versus a group who surrender self-will, I think, would be a satisfying story.
Good stuff from everyone! Still working out the kinks. It’s a long process, writing an audio drama, but encouragement and input makes it less grueling (sp?).
One thought i had about those who were under the influence of the demons resinated withs something that I have been contemplating recently with my own faith, the difference between good and righteousness. i think that you are right in saying those that are completely under the control of demons wouldn’t be able to do good, but Looking at some of the things CS Lewis talks about in the screwtape letters might give some insight into things. Just a thought, or two