What happens if you take 5 authors of varying genres, give them not-copyrighted versions of some fun characters, drop them in the middle of the woods and release untold gothic horrors on them?

I don’t know…but I really wanted to find out.

Join maniacal, schadenfreude enthusiast (also known as the Dungeon Master), ‘Shady’ David Shadoin and watch as Kacey Ezell, Jon R. Osborne, William Myrl, Stephen Landry, and T.J. Lombardi get sucker punched over and over again when everything takes a turn for the worse in Author’s Trapped.

Trigger warning: this module leans heavily into some very distinct tropes of the Gothic Horror genre…if you can’t play games like Resident Evil, Amnesia, or The Forest, please do yourself a favor and don’t listen to this. Thanks!

Credits (go give them a like or better yet, subscribe!):

Shady - davidshadoin.com

Kacey Ezell - kaceyezell.net

Jon R. Osborne - jonrosborne.com

Willaim Myrl - williammyrl.com

Stephen Landry - https://linktr.ee/stephenlandry

T.J. Lombardi - www.patreon.com/WarriorPublishing (his site https://warriorpub.wordpress.com/ won’t let me in…)

Map Images are made by DM Andy and who you can support here! https://www.patreon.com/c/DM_Andy/home

The guide I use to inform my campaign was written by Wyatt Trull who you should check out here: https://www.dmsguild.com/en/browse?authorName=%22Wyatt%20Trull%22

The usual intro and outro song for Who the **** Are We?, Lofi Chill, was created by Fass Sounds who I licensed through Pixabay.

And the awesome background music (several songs) I’m using to underlay the gameplay is by Timothy Roven over at Tabletop Audio…go check out his catalog here: https://tabletopaudio.com/

Sorry guys...I know you all were excited for a new episode of Worlds Asunder, but I'll explain, very vaguely, why you need to be a little more patient...thanks for stopping by!

Our guest Julia Vee was a trial lawyer in Silicon Valley. She attended UC Berkeley and majored in Asian Studies. She often writes with co-author Ken Bebelle. Their novel Ebony Gate, an Asian-inspired contemporary fantasy, was published by TOR and named a 2023 Golden Poppy Finalist for the Octavia E. Butler award. The trilogy conclusion, Pearl City, released in July of 2025.

We got to share an exhibitor booth with Julia at Dragonsteel last December. We had a blast hanging out with her that weekend, and we’re just lucky she still likes us enough after all that proximity to come on as a guest!

In Part Two, We Discuss:

• Shorthand Communication of Desired Genre Tropes

• Omnibusses and Sexy Hardcovers

• Comps and Inspiration

• Full Tangent into Latest Movies and Shows We Loved

Resources and Guest Links:

• https://juliavee.com/

• IG: @juliaveewrites

• Pearl City Paperback Release!

Join us in thanking Julia! She’s a talented author, fantastic booth-mate, and we’re so grateful she was willing to give us some of her time.

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/

• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim

Our guest Julia Vee was a trial lawyer in Silicon Valley. She attended UC Berkeley and majored in Asian Studies. She often writes with co-author Ken Bebelle. Their novel Ebony Gate, an Asian-inspired contemporary fantasy, was published by TOR and named a 2023 Golden Poppy Finalist for the Octavia E. Butler award. The trilogy conclusion, Pearl City, released in July of 2025.

We got to share an exhibitor booth with Julia at Dragonsteel last December. We had a blast hanging out with her that weekend, and we’re just lucky she still likes us enough after all that proximity to come on as a guest!

In Part One, We Discuss:

• Julia’s transition from trial lawyer to fantasy author

• How professional backgrounds can impact your creative process

• Food, making readers hungry, and using it as an anchor in your stories

• Zero drafts

• Cultural influences on fiction

• Co-writing dynamics

Resources and Guest Links:

• https://juliavee.com/

• Ebony Gate

Join us in thanking Julia! She’s a talented author, fantastic booth-mate, and we’re so grateful she was willing to give us some of her time.

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/

• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim

Today’s guest, Kacey Ezell, was born in South Dakota and grew up around the world on various military bases. When she was seven, her mother gave her a copy of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragondrums, and shortly thereafter, Kacey decided that she wanted to be a dragonrider when she grew up. From the time she was a small child, Kacey made up stories to tell to her friends and family.

Kacey’s emotionally-fueled fiction includes alternate history, fantasy, noir, and science fiction. She’s a master in emotional resonance and character building! Join us in learning the tips and tricks to build characters with believable emotional arcs.

In Part Two, We Discuss:

• Saving character details for reference

• Background information: what do you need to tell the story?

• Choosing where to focus your background development

• Tropes and genre

• Character motivation

• Using character flaws and strengths and plot points

Resources and Guest Links:

• https://kaceyezell.net/

• Newsletter and free short stories: https://kaceyezell.net/the-dragons-horde/

• Psyche of War: https://kaceyezell.net/book-series/the-psyche-of-war/

• World Anvil: https://www.worldanvil.com/

• Notion: https://www.notion.com/

Join us in thanking Kacey! She’s a great author and an even better friend, and we’re grateful she took time out of her relaxicon to interview and give us the inside scoop on how she crafts excellent characters.

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/

• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim

Today’s guest, Kacey Ezell, was born in South Dakota and grew up around the world on various military bases. When she was seven, her mother gave her a copy of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragondrums, and shortly thereafter, Kacey decided that she wanted to be a dragonrider when she grew up. From the time she was a small child, Kacey made up stories to tell to her friends and family.

Kacey’s emotionally-fueled fiction includes alternate history, fantasy, noir, and science fiction. She’s a master in emotional resonance and character building! Join us in learning the tips and tricks to build characters with believable emotional arcs.

In Part One, We Discuss:

• Every villain is the hero of their own story; writing unpopular characters

• Every hero is probably the villain of someone else’s story

• Redemption arcs

• Characters we love to hate

• How worldbuilding impacts characters and vice versa

• Tools to track details

Resources and Guest Links:

• https://kaceyezell.net/

• Newsletter and free short stories: https://kaceyezell.net/the-dragons-horde/

• Psyche of War: https://kaceyezell.net/book-series/the-psyche-of-war/

• World Anvil: https://www.worldanvil.com/

• Notion: https://www.notion.com/

Join us in thanking Kacey! She’s a great author and an even better friend, and we’re grateful she took time out of her relaxicon to interview and give us the inside scoop on how she crafts excellent characters.

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/

• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim

Join your Worlds Asunder host, 'Shady' David Shadoin, and several of his author friends (H.Y. Gregor, Kacey Ezell, Melissa Olthoff, Casey 'Moops' Moores, Mark Stallings, and Jon R. Osborne) on their misadventures in Jackbox's Fibbage 3. This is the pilot episode of a whole different show! Don't worry, we will still have our normal worldbuilding podcast but this has been chilling in a vault for too long and needed to see the light of day. Open your eyeholes!Shady - davidshadoin.comHailey - hygregor.comKacey - kaceyezell.netMelissa- melissaolthoff.netMoops - caseymoores.netMark - markstallings.comOz - jonrosborne.comThanks to FASS Sounds for putting out another awesome lofi chill song to license and use. Go find them on patreon and support if you enjoy this music or our other show's music. Thanks also to Matt Shadoin for designing our awesome logo! Find him on instagram and facebook!

Our latest guest is J.T. Evans, fantasy, science fiction, and horror author and former president of Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group and Pikes Peak Writers. Today he brings his expertise and experience in both writing and gaming to help us dig into the nitty gritty of fantasy city building.

When not writing, he keeps computers secure at the Day Job, spends time with his family, and plays way too many tabletop games. J.T. joined the Gnome Stew Crew in March of 2016. Since that time, he has written dozens of articles for the site and has earned three Gold ENnie awards (2016, 2017, and 2018) as part of the team at Gnome Stew. He is the author of the Modern Mythology and Flashing Blades series and is hastily working on more right now.

In Part Two, We Discuss:

• Reasons and implications for city locations and environments

• City resources and the role of standardization and

• Natural disasters and character reactions to their surroundings

• Governing bodies, including some of their flaws

• Maps!

Resources and Guest Links:

• https://jtevans.net/

• The Flashing Blades series: https://jtevans.net/publications/flashing-blades/

• Modern Mythology series: https://jtevans.net/publications/modern-mythology/

• Newsletter subscription: https://jtevans.net/about/contact/

• Gnome Stew: https://gnomestew.com/

• Stay tuned for links to JT’s maps and other photo resources!

Join us in thanking JT! We’re fortunate to claim him as a writing colleague and a friend. We’re seriously grateful he lent us his expertise for this episode and loved digging into the nitty-gritty of city building with him.

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/

• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim