Good Luck Golem

Good Luck Golem is the brand attached to all of my writing projects. This is where I advertise what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. (My little mascot's name is GG and he was drawn by my friend Selene @ninetalesatelier )

[goodluckgolem]

Welcome to Good Luck Golem

Hi there, my name is Dylan S. Shipman and this is the blog where I promote all of my current and future writing projects.

I've been a writer for the better part of a decade now. Self-advertising has never been something I've been good at it, but I'm making an effort toward being better.

Here's a quick list of all my current and future projects that I'm working on:

Gruyere: A Taste of Magic: A Cozy Fantasy story about Gruyere Casein the Cooking Witch. Her and her Cheese Elemental familiar, Queso, are going on a dangerous journey outside the walls of her city to help get a little girl named Lizzie back home.

Inheritors of the Apocalypse: Young Adult Fantasy about Sam Walker, a girl plagued by intense visual hallucinations about a woman called The Mage. When The Mage turns out to be less of a hallucination than she thought, Sam has to travel across the country, fighting demons, gaining allies, and learning how to use her magic. If she doesn't, the world as she knows it will fall.

Corpse Detective: Fantasy Mystery featuring Cross the undead detective. He's trying to solve the mystery of a missing man, all while stumbling around an underground cult and his own missing past.

Witch Metal: Story about a version of the Wild West full of magic and witches. On the run from a painful past, Cassidy is dragged along on a quest to track down a mysterious gunman, who's been taking down witches all across the west.

That's all of them for now! I've got a few more rattling around my head, but nothing I want to advertise quite yet. Hopefully, there's something here you're interested in.

(On a side note, my little mascot up in my logo is named GG and he was drawn by my friend over at @ninetalesatelier . Go check out her stuff if you've got the time, she's great.)

[goodluckgolem]

Media Review - Kamen Rider Kuuga

Summary - The evil Grongi, a race of superpowered beings bent of humanity's destruction, have been revived after several thousand years. And the only one who can stop him is Godai Yusuke, a professional adventurer and master of over 2,000 skills. Can he stop the Grongi's evil game and save as many people as he can?

Overview - Kamen Rider Kuuga was made in 2000 and was the first entry in the Heisei era; also the first Kamen Rider show since 1989. It was also my first Kamen Rider series that I watched in early February of this year. Ever since then, I have been obsessed with Kamen Rider as a franchise and Kuuga is a big part of that.

Let's start with the plot. On the surface, it feels very simple: monsters kill humans, guy fights monsters. But, there are a lot of underlying themes that really enhance the experience when you watch it. Personally, I believe the main theme of Kuuga is sacrifice. When the chips are down and everyone is counting on you, how much are you willing to sacrifice? Your relationships, your morals, your life itself?

All the characters, not just Yusuke, struggle with that theme of sacrifice throughout the series.

Now, the characters, one of the serious make or break things for a series like this.

Our main character is Godai Yusuke, a guy who travels across the world collecting as many skills as he can, who has a habit of giving people oddly-affirming thumbs-ups. He's a bit goofy, but in a way that makes people relaxed. He's not a clown, he just loves to make people smile; it's one of his core philosophies.

Yusuke helps people, not just by being Kuuga, but also by just being himself. He saves them by lending a helping hand and a willing ear just as many times as he does with a flying kick.

There's a great supporting cast, though no secondary Kamen Rider. Yusuke is mainly aided by his friends at the police and local university. The most ardent of which is Detective Ichijo, a man who could easily be considered Yusuke's closest confidant in the series. It is truly amazing to watch their bond grow as the series went on.

Finally, we've got the villains: the Grongi. I'm somewhat certain people have conflicting feelings on the Grongi for one important reason. They don't speak Japanese and because of that, certain versions don't include subtitles for them as you're supposed to find out what they're saying as the main cast does. I, thankfully, had a version with normal subtitles.

They're decent for what they are. Human-hating monsters are pretty classic, and they play with that in a few decent ways. I'm a particular fan of the final villain for several reasons that I can't really say here because it is littered with spoilers.

Overall - Kuuga was meant to be the world's reintroduction to Kamen Rider, and they very much succeeded with that. It's exciting, touching, heart-felt, has a kick-ass opening song, and hits every one of my boxes. Literally the only bad thing I have to say about Kuuga is that it was made in 2000 and you can very much tell sometimes. Even then, though, it's pretty easy to look past at a certain point.

Scoring - 9.6/10

[goodluckgolem]

Book Review - The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong

Summary - The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong is a Cozy Fantasy novel. It follows the story of two young women: Certainty, whose only form of magic is talking to inanimate objects, and Aurelia, a woman known for her icy and distant demeanor and advanced magical ability.

Certainty wants to be a Mage, but has been stuck as a Novice for the past six years. She gets her chance, though, when she and Aurelia have to document a horde of minorly magical items in a tiny, forgotten town called Shpelling.

Their assignment quickly becomes more than a way for Certainty to advance in the magical world. They find themselves entranced by the small village and as they grow closer to the villagers, their own friendship grows too— possibly into something much more.

Thoughts - I am a big fan of Julie Leong. Her first book "The Teller of Small Fortunes" was an instant favorite, and this one is no different. Her ability to maintain a nice cozy atmosphere can not be understated. I was, admittedly surprised by the romance angle of this one, but Julie Leong does not disappoint.

She really makes you root for the characters you're reading about. The more you read, the more you want to see them succeed and be happy. Watching Certainty grow more confident and Aurelia become less stiff is a wonderful transition.

A big theme of the book is about pressure, about how even the most crushing of expectations don't have to be as heavy if you don't let them. I think there's also a thing about "Happiness is what you make it". Certainty tries to make the best of the situation in Shpelling, doing her best to help people in whatever way she can.

The whole point of a Cozy Fantasy is to feel cozy. It's a genre where, even when you feel like garbage or the world is on fire, you can tuck yourself in and smile as you read about two goofy lesbians dancing around their feelings in a little garlic town, and I think that's beautiful.

Overall - While not my absolute favorite, The Keeper of Magical Things is an amazing book. You'll get overloaded by all the warm, fuzzy feelings and a few tear-jerking ones sprinkled throughout (there is a scene near the end that nearly had me bawling). At around 350 pages or so, it's a solid book that'll let you a week or two depending on how you stretch it out.

Scoring - 8.5/10

[goodluckgolem]

A Taste of Magic Synopsis Attempt #2

Gruyere Casein is a waitress at the famous Heely's Diner in Towyrs, but her true passion lies in cooking. Magic flows through her veins, and she uses it to make the most delicious meals you've ever tasted.

When a young girl named Lizzie crashes into her life, Gruyere has to abandon her life in Towyrs to bring her back home. Travelling outside the city's protective walls, facing the wilderness and enormous beasts in equal measure.

With just her magic, her knife, and her Cheese familiar, Queso, does Gruyere have what it takes to get to that other city? Or is she going to wind up burnt like a bad souffle?

[ladyignatius4]

It doesn't matter if you wrote 5,000 or 50 words today.

It doesn't matter if all you did was day-dream about your characters while staring at the ceiling.

You are still a writer and your progress is valid.

[nondelphic]

“but what if it’s bad?” babe it is bad. that’s why we’re doing arts and crafts with it

[an0neemouse]

Write whatever you want. Write that incredibly niche thing that only two other people on earth will get. Write the super indulgent cliche thing that makes you kick your feet giddily. Write the angry rage story that whumps them all and makes people cry.

Whatever it is that YOU want to write. Write it. Because only YOU can.

[goodluckgolem]

A Taste of Magic Synopsis Attempt #1

Recently, I've been trying to finish up my Cozy Fantasy novel: A Taste of Magic. Been sending it to Beta Readers and stuff, getting it all prepped for agents. Part of that is coming up with a good synopsis; something I kinda suck at. So, figured I could document my journey and see how it goes:

Gruyere is a waitress at Heely's Diner; she cleans, she takes orders, and she brings people their food. In her spare time, she likes to use her special brand of magic to make delicious food for people including her cheese familiar, Queso, and the hoard of mice living in her apartment. Is this a life she's satisfied with, though?

When a young girl named Lizzie falls into her life, Gruyere's whole world is turned upside down. Lizzie is far away from home and being hunted by a powerful man with a lot of connections. It's up to Gruyere to help Lizzie find her way home by journeying outside the walls of the city.

With an entire kitchen's worth of magical utensils at her beck and call, will Gruyere be able to make it all the way in one piece?

[goodluckgolem]

Book Review - The Cautious Traveler's Guide to the Wasteland by Sarah Brooks

Summary - The Cautious Traveler's Guide to the Wasteland by Sarah Brooks is a historical fantasy novel. Set in a world where a large section of both Russia and China has been reduced to an uninhabitable wasteland full of dangerous air and hostile creatures. To combat this, humanity has constructed a train meant to travel the Wasteland, going back and forth between China and Russia.

The story follows several characters: Marya, a woman pretending to be a widow who's searching for answers; Henry Grey, a disgraced scientist looking for redemption; Weiwei, a young girl who has lived her entire life on the train; along with a few others.

Thoughts - The vibe of this story is a mix of incomprehensible horror and untapped wonder. Sarah Brooks does an amazing job of shifting between the two, but unfortunately, that's also something of a detriment. That incomprehensible, Eldritch horror that filters through the book can make things hard to understand.

Without spoiling anything properly, the final ten percent of the book was hard to follow. There were so many different things happening all at once across several different characters. Though, to clarify, the chapters themselves were comprehensible, but everything around the main characters and their actions just melded into a blurry mess. Which does feel like the intention.

There's a big focus on the chaos of nature; how things grow and evolve beyond our understanding and potentially without meaning. When it all comes to a head, that focus comes to fruition in its truest form, but that's the rub. It's very difficult to take chaotic nature and make it understandable to the reader, which is where the story falters for me.

Beyond that, the core of the story is about casting away responsibilities. Characters spend so long focusing on one specific thing that drives them and haunts them in equal measure, then at the end, they realize it doesn't matter, that there are more important things than their responsibility.

Character-wise, no one stands out too strongly to me. They're solid characters, don't get me wrong, but none of them super jump out at me as a character that I love and adore. Not a bad mark per se. I think the point of the story lies in its plot more than its characters, which is a rarity these days.

Overall - While the story does its job well, I don't think this one was for me. It's a solid read and a nice 300 pages or so, which is on the lower end. I'd recommend this to people who like more poignant storylines and eldritch horror.

Scoring - 7.1/10