Of Mooks And Monsters

This week, Alive After Reading returns with a great chat I had with independent author, Alexandra Penn! Check out Alexandra’s serial story “The Letter Mage” over on Patreon. Or get the first quarto on amazon.com. Check out her website here. You can also find my book, “The Mangrove Suite” on amazon.com and get ready for … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 35 – Alexandra Penn"

Hey, everyone, I’m back with a bit of solo episode, a digression from the regular podcast. Here I talk about a way to use Mutants and Masterminds by Green Ronin as a wargame. Thanks for listening, Rob should be back next week. Please email the show at podcast@mentalcellarpublications.com if you have any comments, questions, or … Continue reading "Of Mooks and Monsters Episode 69 – Mutants and Wargames"

This week on Alive After Reading, I have an interview with independent author Joshua Simon! For full disclosure, I met Joshua in an online writing group a few years back. Hope you enjoy the conversation! Check out Joshua’s books. Check out my books. Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 34 – Joshua Simon"

Hey everybody! This week on Of Mooks and Monsters, Rob and I discuss one of the greatest enemies of fun in roleplaying games: metagaming, and its often-unwitting agents, the metagamers. Thanks for listening! Share and enjoy. Email us your feedback at podcast@mentalcellarpublications.com Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm … Continue reading "Of Mooks and Monsters Episode 68 – Bringing Down Metagamers"

This week on Alive After Reading, I talk to a new author, Laura Beers about her book, Saving Shadow. Don’t forget, you can find my books on amazon.com. Thanks for listening. Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 33 – Laura Beers"

This week, Rob and I continue our discussion about RPGs with a conversation about Focus and how to shift it between players. Thanks for listening! Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.

This week on Alive After Reading, I’m back interviewing Karen Lee about her memoir, “The Full Catastrophe.” You can find out more about Karen at her website. You can buy my books at amazon.com. Thanks for listening. Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 32 – Karen Lee"

Rob Ward and I are back with a new episode, in which we discuss ways we can challenge players to help them engage in a more nuanced way in our games. Saddle up, folks, this episode is a good one! Thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you can support me and this show by buying my … Continue reading "Of Mooks and Monsters Episode 66 – Challenging Players"

Hey, everyone! This week on Alive After Reading, I’m back chatting with JR Handley, an author of military science fiction. Check out JR’s books on Amazon.com, or check out his website. My books are still available at Amazon.com. Check out The Mangrove Suite, or one of my other books today! Thanks for listening! Sign up … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 31 – JR Handley"

This week, Rob and I discuss peripherals and expansion books for your games. We talk about this online article for city-building in the course of this discussion. Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to share our links if you enjoy the show. Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is … Continue reading "Of Mooks and Monsters Episode 65 – Supplements"

This week, I’m back on Alive After Reading talking with veteran author, Edward Willett. Check out Edward’s books at his website. Find my books on amazon.com. Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.

This week on Of Mooks and Monsters, Rob and I discuss reasons and ways to stick to your plans as a game master. Beware. Here there be metaphors. Remember, you can email the show at podcast@mentalcellarpublications.com if you have any questions or comments you want to hear addressed on the show. Thanks for listening. Sign … Continue reading "Of Mooks and Monsters Episode 64 – Sticking to the Plan"

Hey everyone, Alive After Reading is back with an interview featuring Paul Sating, a writer, and audio drama creator behind a few great podcasts out there right now. Check out Paul’s website! Buy my books and support the show! Thanks for listening! Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 29 – Paul Sating"

This week, Rob and I review a game session I ran in-person a few weeks ago for him and a few other friends. I made some mistakes, to say the least. Thanks for listening! Send us your emails at podcast@mentalcellarpublications.com. Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being … Continue reading "Of Mooks and Monsters Episode 63 – Cypher System One Shot Postmortem"

This week on Alive After Reading, a conversation with Tim Marquitz, author of the Demon Squad Series as well as many other books available all around the web. Check out Tim Marquitz’s amazon store. Get Armageddon Bound, the first book of the Demon Squad series for free! Also, don’t forget my books on amazon.com and … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 28 – Tim Marquitz"

As game masters, we often help players build their characters. That is the subject of this week’s episode. Thanks for listening! Sign up for the email list to be notified of new releases!JohnSmithjohnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.

This week, on Alive After Reading, I have a conversation with, Kimi Alexandre, author of Guardians: Awakened. Both Kimi and I suffer from depression at times, and this conversation is mostly about the writing process. How do we get words down on the page? How do we keep going, in spite of our problems? Listen … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 27 – Kimiko Alexandre"

We’ve talked a little about rules on Of Mooks and Monsters from time to time. But what about situations outside of the rules, and events that defy mechanics altogether? This week, Rob and Tim explore where the mechanics end. We hope you enjoy our conversation! Don’t forget you can find all my works at my … Continue reading "Of Mooks and Monsters Episode 61 – Where Mechanics End"

This week on Alive After Reading, I, Tim Niederriter have an interview with Suzy Vadori, award-winning author of The Fountain, and now, its prequel, The West Woods. Find Suzy’s new book, The West Woods, here. You can check out my books on my amazon.com page. Thanks for listening everybody! Sign up for the email list to be … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 26 – Suzy Vadori Returns"

This week on Alive After Reading, Tim interviews the awesome author Matt Wallace. Matt has a lot of knowledge and plenty of books you can read out there in the world. You can support this show by getting Tim’s books on amazon.com. Thanks for listening! Sign up for the email list to be notified of … Continue reading "Alive After Reading Episode 25 – Matt Wallace"