We’ve interviewed the seriously cool and awesome Fobywoby of Terra Mythica - A LitRPG Adventure, give you recommendations for the start of August, list out some great releases, and take a peak at someone who can write 50K+ words a week 🤯.

I’m also thinking of switching these Newsletters to another day. Testing it with this issue! What do you think? If you hate it, send me a message.

WEEKLY RECS | WHAT’S OUT THIS WEEK | INTERVIEW WITH FOBYWOBY | HOW DO YOU WRITE SO MUCH? |

Weekly Recommendations for the Start of August 2024

What’s Releasing this Week and I’m Reading?

Interview with Fobywoby from Terra Mythica - A LitRPG Adventure

Terra Mythica - A LitRPG Adventure is an awesome LitRPG story with Greek Gods (promises of a much larger scope), a spooky AI, a loveable cast, and fantastic themes. The stakes start high, and just keep ramping up. The scope of the worldbuilding and themes really stand out for this story. Here’s a magical link 🎆. This is an epic tale where hope is found in the darkest pits. If you love great ensembles, awesome powers, super-charged fight scenes, and a touch of coziness, this is your next read. Seriously, having a blast with it, as are the friends I’ve recommended it to. One more link for good measure: log into Terra Mythica, if you dare.

If you’re an author and want to be interviewed 🧀, you can send me a message here. If you have any takes or want to send me a message 📧, use this link.

Saga Scribe: Hello Fobywoby! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. I’ve really been loving Terra Mythica, especially the worldbuilding! Can you give me some background on how the idea of Terra Mythica started? The scope and breadth of Terra Mythica? I’ve read a lot of VR based stories and yours stands apart with the different Realms and power systems.

Fobywoby: Hey Saga, First off, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited about this initiative you’ve got going, and I feel like it’s really going to take off.

And thank you for the wonderful compliments about the series. Terra Mythica actually began as a short story. It received an Honorable Mention in an international writing competition a few years ago - the same one that Patrick Rothfuss and some other legends have participated in. So, I'm pretty excited about that.

The concept of the story was inspired by imagining a world just before the Matrix, something akin to Blade Runner. Then, this new tech emerges. People understand very little about it, the consequences, or even how it truly works.

What they get is a high fantasy, mythology based world. The first few books are heavy Greek myth and litrpg. As it goes forward, we dive into mythology and folklore from all over the world.

Saga Scribe: One part of your story that I loved is the theme of identity. The Travelers themselves get to change, alter, and even grow within Terra Mythica. The AI has its own developed identity, as do the Citizens. Is the concept of evolving identity something you wanted to explore? What questions are you trying to explore in Terra Mythica about self? Is anonymity important to you? Am I reading into this too much? Are there any major themes you like exploring?

Fobywoby: Mostly, I'm looking to explore the same things we all want to understand - what makes us tick. With its ancient Greek mythology setting, Terra Mythica dives into a lot of philosophy - from questions about reality and the nature of the soul to pondering our purpose here.

The main character isn't a Mary Sue; he’s not overpowered. He’s just someone dealing with loss and trying to find light in the darkness. He’s not a self-insert, but he’s the kind of person I’d hang out with and grab a beer with. We do share a few things - we both grew up in total poverty.

I was homeless as a kid, living in a car with my three brothers in the redwoods of Northern California. It took a lot for us to climb out of poverty and build something, but we did. Stories of rags to riches, of fighting against the storm, hold a special place in my heart.

"Do not go gentle into that good night," and all that.

To your question about anonymity, it isn’t really that important to me, but it is nice sometimes. I have friends who are recognized when people see their names, and they’ve told me they would have loved to keep their identities a bit more private when they started if they could go back.

Saga Scribe: I’m really enjoying your dialogue and cast of characters. Jace is a fantastic main character that feels so real. He feels like friends I knew growing up. I love the scenes with Hades, his personality is so fitting. How do you go about creating your characters? What’s a character that you find extremely easy to write, and one that you find difficult to write? Do you have any tips on writing dialogue that flows so well like yours? Where did you learn your dialogue skills?

Fobywoby: Yeah, Jace is a good dude. I think my favorite character has to be Jerry, the ghost clerk for the Underworld. When you meet him, I think you'll see why.

I've learned most of my dialogue from listening. Traveling helped me explore many different types of speech and discover some great personalities, which have subtly influenced my characters, even if I wasn’t planning on it.

Dialogue, for me, is about authenticity and identity. Does it feel true? Does it sound like them? Once the characters know who they are, their voices really start to come through.

Dex is more of a show-off, obviously compensating for some things he's dealing with at home.

Alice is a nerdy badass with a strong dash of Nightmare Before Christmas. I picture her as the type of person who loved the cartoon Alice in Wonderland and still has her Jack Skellington T-shirt. She hates horror movies but loves Halloweentown and Hocus Pocus.

Ell is more about fashion, but she’s a real strong leader type beneath that. Thistle... well, what can we say about him? Gnome tank. Need I say more?

And Jace. Jace is a guy who knows he doesn’t belong, but he’s there anyway. He’s quick to temper, fast to rush in, but he’s trying to work on himself and be more like his brother Alex.

For me, dialogue is about letting the characters talk. It involves a lot of brainstorming and editing to make sure it feels natural.

Saga Scribe: I have to ask about your take on technology and schooling. I love the premise of the outside world beyond Terra Mythica, and relish the snippets you leave throughout the story about the real world (in the book). Do you have any opinions about technology in today’s day in age? About the reliance on technology?

Fobywoby: I think technology has its place. It's a big part of our lives. But, like everything, it's about balance. I believe that life is best spent living. If tech helps us do that and helps us help each other, then it is good.

Saga Scribe: In one of your chapters endnotes, you mentioned you were homeschooled for a bit. I find that so interesting (that is just not a thing up here in America’s Hat). How was that? Do you feel like it’s influenced your writing, or interests? Would you recommend it?

Fobywoby: I think every parent and family needs to make that choice for themselves. I had a bit of a weird childhood when it came to school. I mentioned before that we were homeless for a bit, which comes with a very different life. For my early years, I didn't have much school at all (homeschooling or otherwise). I taught myself how to read and write when I was nine years old.

And then I started studying everything. I lived a lot of life by the age of fifteen. I started working at about fourteen (lied about my age) and got a job in a call center. Picture a kid who just went through a growth spurt, wearing a Goodwill button-up shirt and a tie that had seen better decades. I didn't know how to hem pants, so I just tucked them into my socks. I'm not even kidding.

I started writing a lot back then. I eventually did go to school, but only for brief stints. I studied martial arts (which provided me with great structure and a group), got a few black belts over the years, and started teaching.

When I was seventeen, I met a girl who said she was going to a local college, so I said "that's funny, so am I" and enrolled the next day.

But writing was always my passion. Some years later, I somehow wound up teaching creative writing to teens and adults. Some of them went on to do fairly well.

Funny enough, I never finished high school. But a lot of lower-level (2-year) colleges don't really care if you show up with cash and look like you belong.

Have you ever seen the movie Catch Me If You Can with DiCaprio? I was kinda like that.

I felt awkward everywhere. But, I blended in no matter where I went.

Not attending school for most of my life was a mixed bag, with both pros and cons. I missed out on a lot of things people talk about - the classic high school experience. But instead, I got to travel extensively, had a job that took me around the country non-stop, and truly immersed myself in life from a very young age.

It wasn't all sunshine and unicorn farts. Not the best life, but it was my life. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Saga Scribe: Based on the blend of ideas going in Terra Mythica and your humor, I can just tell you’re a cool person. Someone I would like to have a beer with and ask questions. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you out. Could you recommend 5 pieces of any media? I’m talking about books, stories, video games, shows, and movies. It doesn’t have to be an influence on your story, but I just have the biggest inkling you’ll give some awesome recommendations. If you recommend OId School Runescape to me I will cry.

Fobywoby: First off, RuneScape is where it's at.

But outside of that... hmmm, only five?

Binge every Saturday morning cartoon. I know, technically that's like twelve different suggestions in one, but I don’t care.

But do it like we had to back in the day - no pauses. If you need to pee, you run to the bathroom during commercial breaks. One of my brothers (he's also a writer) and I are pretty close. We used to grab a big mixing bowl (one each), fill them with cereal, and watch old-school X-Men every weekend. That was when we were cool enough to start buying the rich people cereal - the kind with the branded characters. Which was an upgrade from off-brand knock-offs like Cristy Colors or Frosted Mini Spooners.

Books: The Time Traveler's Wife and The Night Circus. Anything by Neil Gaiman. Anything by Butcher or Sanderson.

Games: There are too many to list. But I'd start with an oldie that got me hooked - Diablo II. It's still a classic, I don’t care what anyone says about it.

Also, I used to read the dictionary for fun. Is that weird?

Ever pick one of those things up and just go? Not much of a story, I'd give it a 3 out of 5. Great descriptions, but horrible plot.

Saga Scribe: For just my personal records, as I am just gathering research notes for now…Where would you go if the Apocalypse happened? We’re talking, you need to go in 5 minutes flat. Where are you going? What is going into your backpack? Assume Costco is the source of the Apocalypse and all of its inhabitants are now Zombies.

Fobywoby: I'd hope to get straight up isekai'd. The name of the story would be "The Apocalypse Sucked, So I Took My Family on a Vacation to Another Dimension."

Saga Scribe: You’re currently rocketing up Rising Stars and gathering a nice amount of Followers. What are your plans for Terra Mythica when it gets larger than it is now? Are you planning on going full time? Do you work a job that you’d happily give up for writing? What are some things you struggle with in the writing space? How does Fobywoby write? Do you plan everything out, or have a loose structure and rip it?

Fobywoby: Mythica is a seven-book series, but it's part of a larger universe that spans many genres. You'll see different series touch on the same universe at various points in time.

Writing for me is about finding worlds and words that interest me. I start by jamming and coming up with concepts, just pantsing them out. Like throwing noodles at the wall until one sticks.

Once I have the story well-envisioned, I plot like crazy. With all my beats set up, I go back to pantsing, using the beats as a roadmap with some bumpers on the side of the road. I constantly jump over these bumpers and need to pants my way back to the plotted line. It's a sort of controlled chaos, though recently, there's been more chaos than control.

I also have an urban fantasy set in the 1960s coming out called Mostly Dead. The hook is that it's about a zombie with nothing, who gives everything in search of something worth dying for.

Saga Scribe: Do you have any questions for me? Any questions you wished I asked?

Fobywoby: Do you ever find yourself narrating your own life in the voice of Morgan Freeman or adding entirely unnecessary sound effects to things you're doing, like an explosion when putting the milk back in the fridge?

...me neither.

Terra Mythica is seriously awesome. Such a fun read and I can't wait to see where it goes. Check it out here.

How Does This Author Write So Much? Good job WolfShine!

I stumbled upon an Author, WolfShine, who has 3 primary series (chapter a day), and 6 secondary series (chapter a week). That’s 27 chapters a week. If a chapter is 2000 words, that’s over 50K words a week. That is seriously impressive. I am going to be reading their series, but will not be bothering them for an interview.

You are a writing machine. For those of you that are curious, by my scribble math, the author is making about $10-12,000+/month via Patreon.

Thank you all for reading!
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🧙🏼‍♂️ Saga Scribe