🧙‍♂️Interview with Fiddlesoup of Penance: The Djinn of Aerlyn | End of July Recommendations | What's Coming Out This Week | A Writer I'm Happy For

For this week, we interview the amazing Author Fiddlesoup of Penance: The Djinn of Aerlyn [Dungeon Crawler, LITRPG], give you our recommendations for the week of July 29th, 2024, link to releases, and shout out an Author who I think deserves a pat on the back.

WEEKLY RECS | WHAT’S OUT THIS WEEK | FIDDLESOUP INTERVIEW | SNOOPINGS

Weekly Recommendations - Stupendous Stories, Hidden Gems

What’s Releasing this Week - July 29th, 2024

Interview with Fiddlesoup from Penance: The Djinn of Aerlyn [Dungeon Crawler, LITRPG]

Thank you Fiddlesoup for reaching out and being one of the first supporters! Penance: The Djinn of Aerlyn [Dungeon Crawler, LITRPG] is a fantastic read. The blend of character development within the Progression and worldbuilding sets this distinctly apart. Here’s a link. I’m telling you, you’ll have a blast reading it. And another link, for good measure. Go get trapped in Penance.

Fiddlesoup has amassed 70K views, over 450 Followers, and a loyal audience in one and a half months.

If you’re an author and want to be interviewed 🍔, you can send me a message here.

Saga Scribe: Hello Fiddlesoup! Reading through your story has kept me up late into the night multiple times this week. Kudos to you. I believe it’s due to worldbuilding and progression being so beautifully tied together. Can you give me some background on how your story came to fruition? Did you spend a long time developing the interweaving aspects of progression, the magic system, characters, and even the world itself? What did that process look like? I’d imagine for a story as deep and complex as this that a lot of planning went into it.

Fiddlesoup: Thank you. I can’t tell you how excited my inner child gets when I hear I kept people up reading something I wrote! @_@ So, believe it or not, I’m a plantser; at least I don’t follow a traditional chapter by chapter beat by beat outlines like Save the Cat or the 7 point plot. Lol But that doesn’t mean that a lot of planning didn’t go into this.

I started my series, Penance, back in August of last year. I had spent the whole summer playing (and replaying) a bunch of different Rogue-lites, and started getting a hankering for a book that was a litrpg one. I found a couple, but they didn’t scratch the itch the way I had hoped, so I started writing. 

I think I wrote out Rod’s entire first run and came up with death boons, too, before getting really excited at my idea and deciding I needed to get a foundation built before I wrote anymore and got stuck. I started building the dungeon, coming up with different room designs and a general style guide for each floor.

I then developed a pretty simple D&D-style game system to generate a random room order, item drops, and combat, and then started writing the story. In the first draft, every single battle, item, and room set-up was an actual, physical die roll. It was a lot of fun to write, but it hindered the flow of the story a lot.
As for the characters/worldbuilding/story, I took a hodgepodge of my favorite tropes, stories, and settings, took the parts I liked, sparkled my own style, and created my world. I was particularly inspired by my favorite game of all time, Final Fantasy 9, particularly Zidane and Dagger’s Romance Arc.
I came up with a brief character arc for my two (at the time) main characters (Rod and Crystal) and then wrote their story around that. It wasn’t until I finished my first draft that I came up with the idea of Memory Cores and realized the story was just as much about Jamie and her journey as it was about Rod’s. I actually wrote every Jamie scene and two of the memory cores after I finished my rough draft. It's not the kind of thing I’ll be able to do with book 2, but I have a much more solid understanding of the story now than when I first finished book 1.

Saga Scribe: I know you’re a teacher (it’s posted on your Royal Road profile), and I find it fascinating that a teacher would be writing within this genre. How do you think teaching has influenced your writing, style, and work ethic? Do you think it’s made any difference? My immediate thought is that an excellent teacher knows how to slowly explore a larger theme, which I think you’ve done very well.

Fiddlesoup: How I teach has changed how I write in terms of when and how I write. I’d used to sit for hours and come away with 500 words and feel miserable that I’d written so little. In college, I was taught that no student should be writing for 2 hours straight, it's miserable and detrimental to high-quality work. Instead, students should write in short bursts with specific purposes in mind. It took joining a writing discord with a writing sprints channel to realize that same concept could apply to me, but once I realized this I ended up writing 120k words of this book in 2 months alone, during the school year, mind you because I started writing in 10 - 15 minute bursts whenever I had free time, instead of trying to force myself to write for hours at a time.

With regard to themes, I think that's more the analytical side of my educational journey coming through. I knew immediately what themes I wanted to tell and how I wanted to convey them. I knew that I wanted my story to not just be a fun dungeon crawl but, to the best of my ability, be the kind of art that has an impact on people. 

Litrpg/ProgFantasy is still relatively young as a genre, and I’ve seen many readers dismiss it as popcorn reading. However, there is so much more to this genre and so much potential to be more. To me, Matt Dinnaman, Shirtaloon, Nobody103, etc., have just as much value to society at large as Shakespeare, Collins, and Lowry, especially because of how addictive and readable they are. These stories teach valuable lessons, while entertaining people. And if that’s not art, I don’t know what is.

Saga Scribe: I’m really enjoying the Rogue-lite, LitRPG, and Romance mashup. In your own story blurb, you reference Hades, and Dante’s Inferno. I played through Hades, and am a huge fan of Dead Cells. What kind of inspiration have you drawn from video games? What other games or stories have influenced your work? I feel a sprinkling of D&D as well. Do you have any video games that you’d recommend? What Esport do you coach!?

Fiddlesoup: I mentioned one earlier, but there were 5 games that influenced the development of this story (Believe it or not, hades wasn’t one as I hadn’t played hades until largely after I finished writing book 1).

First and foremost, Final Fantasy 9 by Square Enix. It was the first game I played where I realized games could be art. There’s a moment early in the game where there is an allusion to Shakespeares’s Romeo and Juliet, and the way it comes back in the ending is one of the single greatest bookends in storytelling history. Just thinking about give me chills. The game also masterfully handles a terrifying genocide plot, and develops and deconstructs how power can corrupt everyone, while also showing how no one is beyond redemption. It’s an utter masterpiece.

The other games are Dark Cloud, my favorite dungeon crawler/city builder combo. A brilliant PS2 game by Level-5. I based the idea for my Aerlyntiums from the Atla items from that game. It was also partially the inspiration behind the fallen city of Aerlyn. (The other source was, of course, Aladdin.)

StoneKeep is another dungeon Crawler made by a now-defunct company called Interplay (you may recognize them as the original makers of Fallout). It's hard to describe what made it special to me, considering how derivative it feels to play now, but my dad, brother, and I poured hundreds of hours into that game back when you needed Floppy discs to play games.

Rogue Legacy by Cellar Door Games: I absolutely adore the randomization of the castle and the class system. It made me want to have something similar when I started writing. 

Wild Card: Breath Of The Wild. Author says what? It’s silly, but I loved the memory mechanic so much I must have partially borrowed it.

As for esports. I coach Smash Brothers and Mario Kart. It’s quite a lot of fun. My students took home first place in both finals last school year. It was an amazing ride.

Saga Scribe: Since you’re clearly well-versed in history and mythos, and are an educator, I have a request! I’d like for your readers to get a list of 5 must read books from Fiddlesoup. This can be from any genre, historical period, and any length. As fantastic as this genre is, once and while we could all use a stretch. Just please, I can’t be recommended Rich Dad, Poor Dad anymore.

Fiddlesoup: Oh, for sure. Gosh. This is tough. There are so many stories that have impacted me, but if I’m going with the 5 books that I think Everyone should read, then there are no other options then the following books:

HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy. The best sci-fi story ever told. So Good. So weird

Dante’s Inferno. Revelatory. One of the best Classics.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The funniest Fantasy Story ever told. Shakespeare’s Easiest play to read.I would encourage everyone to see this play performed live.

Big Fish. The book my favorite ever movie is based on. Absolute masterpiece.

Fourth Wing. Look, is it the best book of all time? No, but it is very well-written, extremely enjoyable, and massively popular. It does a lot of things right and has attracted so many people to read it. Everyone in our hobby should be happy it exists because it increases the overall number of people reading fantasy in general. That is what makes a good book, in my mind. I would encourage readers and writers alike to read what women like, too. It gives you valuable insight into what others enjoy. 

Saga Scribe: I’m really enjoying the way your characters are developing. I think Malice is absolutely hilarious. Rod and Crystal’s interactions feel so realistic. How do you approach workshopping your characters? What character do you find easiest to write? Most challenging? Why? The relationship building aspect is so well done, as well. Any advice for this unmarried Scribe and readers when they finally do tie the knot?

Fiddlesoup: After I created Rod and wrote his first arc, I spent a lot of time worldbuilding and thinking about the characters and the story I wanted to tell. I also spend a lot of time studying the media I consume and thinking about the stories and characters I like in every genre.

With Rod, I knew he needed to have ADHD not just because Neurodivergence needs more representation in this space but because I knew it was necessary for how he interacts and learns with the dungeon. Almost every argument is based on real interactions and misunderstandings I’ve experienced as an Adhder and teacher. Rod is actually the hardest character to write for me because of that; it would have been so easy just to do a self-insert, but that would have done a disservice to Rod and his journey. Somehow, the easiest to write has been Malice. IDK, but it’s very cathartic to write out their journey. I think a commentator put it best when they described it best when he said, “Feels like Marie Antoinette woke up with a keyboard warrior in her head. The kind that probably lives in a basement(or an equivalent) is disconnected from reality, and is an unironic shut-in troll that feeds on people's misery.” He is an unbelievable delight to write.

As for the relationship aspects, I read and watch a lot of romance. It's a genre I quite enjoy, so I guess just having that background helped fuel the relationship aspects. 

Communication is key in a real-world relationship —and not just on the big stuff. Small things can cause big rifts, and making sure that you and your significant other are on the same page can be a godsend. It also helps if you make time to make each other feel special and make sure that nobody is feeling neglected. It sounds silly, but actively dating your spouse well into your marriage is a great way to keep the spark alive.

Saga Scribe: For research purposes only…no evil plans here. I’m always curious as to where people would go in the event of a real Apocalypse. Nuclear/Zombie, not a System Integration. You had to pack in 5 minutes, where would you go to survive? What’s one item that you would have to bring with you?

Fiddlesoup: Any house with a big stone fence, a well, and a second floor. Knock out the stairs, build up a garden, and hope they left a library behind. Nah, I’d fail so badly in an apocalypse. I’m slow and would try and fail at keeping everyone alive. As for an item, can’t go wrong with a Lord Of the Rings omnibus. Or maybe My big fat Shakespeare entire collected works textbook from college. I would die of boredom on day 2 of a zombie apocalypse without something to stimulate my mind.

Saga Scribe: Your story is growing at a very nice pace. You’ve amassed over 50,000 views, and are closing in on 400 Followers at the time of writing this question. What happens if your story booms? Would you continue to teach? What are your long term plans or hopes for your story?

Fiddlesoup: This is a tough one. Teaching honestly feels like a calling to me, but if I can replace my income + benefits, I don’t know that I’d keep teaching in the current market. It's too difficult of a job that doesn’t pay relative to the amount of stress and educational prerequisites. My dream would be to write all day every day, and make my schedule, but I honestly think I need the structure of a traditional job. This summer gave me a taste of what being a full-time writer could be like, and I feel like I struggled massively from having to provide my own structure. For now, my goal is simply to tell a tale I’d like to read and make enough side money to pay down my college debt.

Saga Scribe: Last questions, and seriously, I appreciate you so much for signing onto an interview. What’s your writing schedule like? From what I can tell, you have a great backlog! I can tell that everything is planned out and structured. How do you approach a blank page? Do you put your teacher cardigan on the back of your chair? Do your dogs hang out with you while you’re writing?

Fiddlesoup: So I definitely planned out my launch way back in May. I was carefully considering when and how to publish chapters and had my entire book one ready before I began posting.  I still have a solid 30-chapter backlog that grows by the day. When it comes to a blank page, since I don’t have a traditional outline, what I have is a goal I want to reach for an entire arc or string of chapters. I figure out where my characters are and how they get to that point and then work through getting them there. I set a time limit and a small, modest goal of 15 mins 250 words, and I do my best to reach that goal. It works surprisingly well for me. I can write around 3-5k a day in short bursts like that, especially when I end up writing more than 250 words. The best advice I can give here is that it is a lot easier to edit a poorly written page than it is to edit an unwritten one. Write now, and worry about the quality later.

My dogs are always by my side when I'm writing lol I have two. A welsh Corgi, and a Maltese-Shitzu mix. Both dogs are my pride and joy.

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

Fiddlesoup: Did you always want to be the premiere journalist for Royal Road and all things Litrpg? Or did you just kind of luck into it?

I thoroughly enjoyed the questions. Made do a lot of introspection, which is something I don’t always give myself enough time to do.

Saga Scribe: I am but a simple Scribe, not a journalist. But in all seriousness, I just love the genre. I had a teacher that showed me Fantasy & Sci Fi in grade 8, and I’ve been reading it ever since. I felt decently good at chatting with people, and figured I would try and see if I could get some Authors to sign up for interviews. The first story I read that was outwardly “LitRPG/Progression Fantasy” was Primal Hunter. Had no idea I would end up reading over 50 books that year in the genre.

When I really enjoy someone’s series, it almost feels like I know them, even if just a little bit. For example, Robin Hobb. Seems like such a sweet person, but wow can she write some truly painful stories. This genre is growing at a rapid pace, and I feel that sometimes we forget that under these amazing stories there are people working day in and day out on them. That’s a human being sitting in their little corner of the world, effectively with their own virtual amphitheater. Most of the time they’re anonymous. That’s so interesting. People are the most interesting thing for me, and I want to get to know the people that make so many people’s lives more enjoyable.

If you haven’t read Penance: The Djinn of Aerlyn, you’re missing out. Here’s another link.

Want to be interviewed? Contact me here. 🍕

Good job, Ryn. You deserve it!

A story I’ve followed from the beginning is Path to Transcendence - [Isekai/Litrpg]. Ryn graduated school, got a job, got a following, and then quit said job for Patreon! Love to see it. I am so happy to see that Ryn has found success, pulling in a whopping $3700/month (yes I live in Canada, don’t make fun of our Monopoly money). Read the account here of the decision to go full time. Great work, Ryn. I follow along for every chapter.

Since this is a Progression Fantasy/LitRPG Newsletter, let’s look at some stats from this humble Scribe’s Newsletter.
Subscribers: 65

Thanks,

Saga Scribe 🧙‍♂️