Friday’s Media List
Why are you Still Not Eating Breakfast:
Books
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis
Aubrey Martin books – Patrick O’Brien
Redwall – Brian Jaques
Cozy Canadian (with tea) mysteries – Charlotte MacLeod
Cloven Hooves – Megan Lindholm
Tsalmoth – Steven Brust
Paths of the Dead – Steven Brust
Game of Thrones – George RR Martin
Dune – Frank Herbert
Glory Road – Heinlein
Nine Princes in Amber – Zelazny
Grapes of Wrath – Steinbeck
Good Omens – Pratchett & Gaiman
Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
Papers
Principals of Rainfall Production – University of Waterloo (worldbuilding resource)
Movies & TV
Good Omens season 2
Ghibli movies
Flushed Away
The Phantom Menace
The Great Muppet Caper
Plotting vs Pantsing/Architects vs Gardeners :
Authors
Stephen King
Tim Powers
James Ellroy
Raymond Chandler
Books
Zen and the Art of Writing – Bradbury
A Company of Wolves – Elizabeth Bear
The Black Company – Glenn Cook (skips the fight scenes)
The Heros Journey – Joseph Campbell
Movies & TV
Adaptation
The 4 Types of Novel Writer – Ellen Brock (youtube)
You Never Read the Same Book Twice:
Authors
Lois McMaster Bujold (relationship to fanfic)
Neil Gaiman (relationship to fanfic)
Books
Educated – Tara Westover
The Bee Sting – Paul Murray
City of Brass – SA Chakraborty
What My Bones Know – Stephanie Foo
The First Law Trilogy – Joe Abercrombie (grimdark)
The Black Company – Glenn Cook (grimdark)
Wheel of Time – Robert Jordan
To Reign in Hell – Steven Brust
The Dark is Rising – Susan Cooper
Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
The Host – Stephanie Meyer
Twilight – Stephanie Meyer
Lord of the Rings – Tolkien
The Hobbit – Tolkien
The Martian – Andy Weir
Godel, Escher, Bach – Hofstadter
Movies & TV
Return of the Jedi & The Phantom Menace (same plot)
X-Files (experienced differently based on culture change)
Ghostbusters (experienced differently based on culture change)
Lord of the Rings (experienced differently based on the medium)
Weird Science (experienced differently based on technology changes)
Sneakers (experienced differently based on technology changes)
War Games (experienced differently based on technology changes)
Choose Your Own Adventure – Storytelling in Video Games:
Video Games
The Stanley Parable
Portal 1 & 2
Firewatch
What Remain of Edith Finch
Bastion
Undying
To the Moon
Little Misfortune
Spiritfarer
Scanner Sombre
Limbo
Wildermyth
Metal Gear/Metal Gear Rising
Hollow Knight
Detroit: Become Human
Unpacking
Getting Over It
Deus Ex
LA Noir
Tears of the Kingdom
Breath of the Wild
Destiny 2
Witcher 3
Myst
Zork
Undertale
Elden Ring
Bioware games
Spec Ops: The Line
Baldurs Gate 3
Dredge
Epistory
Subnautica
Senua’s Sacrifice
Red Dead Redemption 2
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
IB
Omori
9 Hours 9 Doors 9 Persons
Hades
Transistor
Fallout
Outer Worlds
Rimworld
Movies & TV
Extra Credits (youtube channel)
Saturday’s Media List
Romancing the Muse:
Books
Take Joy: A Writer’s Guide to Loving the Craft – Jane Yolen
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo
Writing Through Fear – Caroline Donahue
Art & Fear – David Bayles & Ted Orland
The War on Art – Steven Pressfield
Atomic Habits – James Clear
Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert
Character Solves Everything:
Authors
Haruki Murakami (characters just the author in a top hat – but really good)
Robert Heinlein (3 stages of the author for all male characters in his books)
Books
The Science of Storytelling – Will Storr
Story Genius – Lisa Cron
Latro in the Mist – Gene Wolfe (unreliable narrator)
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood (passive character)
How Do You Build a World?:
Authors
CR Rowenson (the Magic Engineer)
Leigh Bardugo (books with both magic & guns)
Books
Mistborn trilogy – Brandon Sanderson
Egalia’s Daughters – Gert Brantenberg
The Future Second by Second – Meridel Newton
A Paradise Built in Hell – Rebecca Solnit
Movies & TV
The Incredibles
Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards
Games
Microscope: Worldbuilding TTRPG
Just Add Music: Storytelling Through Song:
Authors/Songwriters
Robert Hunter (hundreds of songs all about Terrapin Station)
Jonathan Coulton
Shel Silverstein
e.e. cummings
Books
Gaudy Night – Dorothy Sayers
Spellcast – Barbara Ashford
War for the Oakes – Emma Bull
Lyorn – Steven Brust
The Gypsy – Steven Brust & Megan Lindholm
Game of Thrones – George RR Martin
Songsmith – Andre Norton & Ann Crispin
Spellsinger series – Alan Dean Foster
What You Have Heard is True – Carolyn Forche
Movies, TV, & Stage Productions
Repo: The Genetic Opera
Tommy
Dr Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog
Once More with Feeling (Buffy episode)
The Stupendium (youtube channel)
Jagged Little Pill
The Marvels (planet where the language is song)
Hazbin Hotel
Songs, Albums, & Musical Artists
Railroad Bill (American folk song)
1952 Vincent Black Lightning – Richard Thompson
Beeswing – Richard Thompson
The Road Goes On & On (album of original Lord of the Rings songs)
Ballad of Bilbo Baggins – Leonard Nimoy
Rains of Castamere (Game of Thrones)
Appalachian murder ballads
Songsmith – Heather Alexander
Songs from the Gypsy – Boiled in Lead (Steven Brust & Adam Stemple)
1812 Overture – Tchaikovsky
Peter & the Wolf – Prokofiev (check out the Dave Von Rank jug band album)
Scheherazade – Rimsky-Korsakov
Rhapsody in Blue – Gershwin
Stuck Like Glue – Sugarland (the music video changes the meaning of the song)
Charming Disaster (a musical duo that weaves a story around random selections of their songs)
Sunday’s Media List
No Words Required: Storytelling through Pictures
Authors/Creators
Bill Watterson
Hollering Elk (reddit user)
Books/Comics/Manga
Understanding Comics – Scott McCloud
Hellsing (manga)
The Spell of the Sensuous – David Abram
Movies & TV
Howl’s Moving Castle
The Draftsman’s Contract
Video Games
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
How to Fix Plot with Character or Character with Plot
Authors
John M Ford
Books
Spenser series – Robert B Parker (using a secondary character to fix a plot issue when the main character just won’t)
The Virgin’s Promise – Kim Hudson (female Hero’s Journey)
Lord of Light – Zelazny
Unicorn Variations – Zelazny
Curse of Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold (masterclass in presenting a setup that means one thing when presented and another thing later)
Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie
Movies & TV
Adaptation
Full Metal Alchemist
The Witcher (tv series)
A Different Panel: The Novel I’ll Never Write- Knowing when you won’t do a story justice and why
Authors
Christopher More
Books
Use of Weapons – Ian Banks
To Reign in Hell – Steven Brust
Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros
My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult
Articles
It isn’t a highway & it doesn’t have lanes – Steven Brust
Con Suite Media List
Books
The Way of the Pilgrim – Gordon R Dickson
Pandora’s Jar – Natalie Haynes
Those Who Walk Away from Omelas – Ursula K leGuin
The Persians – Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
Time of the Dark (series) – Barbara Hambly (portal fiction for adults)
The Merchant Princes – Charles Stross (portal fiction)
The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley (pinnacle of girl and her horse)
The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
The Locked Tomb series – Tamsyn Muir
Videogames
Crusader Kings III
Worldbuilding Web Resources
Donjon Fantasy/SciFi Everything Generator
Behind the Name – name history and random name/backstory generator
Azgaar Fantasy Map Generator – generates maps for worldbuilding (roads, rivers, weather patterns, attitudes, armies)