Rob Mortell Interview - Indie Author - Fantasy

Is Princess Donut the main character, or is Carl?We break down Princess Donut from DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL by Matt Dinniman in our first character study, with a marked spoiler gate before we go past book one.We start with the junction scene where Donut drops the act, then compare her 25 Charisma and show-cat instincts to Carl's ex-Coast Guard practicality. We get into Beatrice, Donut's original owner, and argue whether Carl and Mordecai are right to keep hard truths from her. Past the spoiler gate, we cover how Donut grows across all eight books and why Dinniman's comedy is still a tragedy.Main character or sidekick? Tell us where you land in the comments.(00:00) - Intro: Who Is Princess Donut? (00:25) - The Junction Scene That Changes Donut (02:17) - Charisma vs. Carl: Donut's Game Smarts (04:00) - Sidekick or Co-Lead? Donut's Real Role (07:05) - Beatrice: Donut's Original Owner (08:43) - Should Carl Tell Donut the Truth? (10:51) - The Crown Donut Shouldn't Have Worn (13:47) - Is Donut the Main Character? (16:18) - Spoilers: How Donut Grows by Book Eight (18:10) - Final Thoughts: Why the Duo Works —📺 SUBSCRIBEEpisodes Every Week🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: Wellerson Clemer — https://www.behance.net/wellersonclemer123Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub #DungeonCrawlerCarl #PrincessDonut

A guy in his boxers, a talking show cat, and a galaxy-wide game show.We break down DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL by Matt Dinniman — the plot of book one, part one of three.Spencer takes over hosting and drags Slava, Jonathan, and Jules through book one. We map the setup — Carl going outside at 2:30 in the morning to catch Donut, the buildings flattening, the descent into Borrant's dungeon — and track how Carl shifts from reacting to everything to actively exploiting the game's rules. We get into whether he's the everyman or a target, the reviews claiming he has no arc, Donut's rise to celebrity, and what Mongo does to her character. Plus the body count nobody mourns and the cheesiest line in the book.Leave a comment with your favorite character — and why it's the Juicer.—📺 SUBSCRIBENew episodes every [DAY]: [YOUTUBE CHANNEL URL]?sub_confirmation=1🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: Wellerson Clemer — https://www.behance.net/wellersonclemer123Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub #DungeonCrawlerCarl #LitRPG (00:00) - Intro: A Magical Cat in a Dungeon (04:23) - Was Carl Chosen or Just Random? (09:36) - Does Carl Have Any Free Will? (13:35) - Is Dinniman Starting an Uprising? (18:57) - Side Quest: Black Mirror and Flock Cams (21:08) - Leveling Up Skills in Real Life (24:58) - Satire, Tropes, and Ugly Characters (32:30) - Carl Stops Playing Defense (33:41) - Is Carl's Mantra Too Cheesy? (34:49) - Does Carl Have a Character Arc? (38:15) - Breaking the Game on Purpose (42:44) - Donut the Star, Carl the Bodyguard (44:48) - What Mongo Does to Donut (50:14) - Reviewers Say They Lack Empathy (56:45) - The Case That Carl Does Care (58:07) - Our Useless Dungeon Skills (01:01:13) - Would You Kill Another Crawler? (01:05:45) - Final Thoughts

One of us read all eight books. The other read one and isn't on the hype train yeWe break down what to know before you read DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL by Matt Dinniman — spoiler-free, with a marked spoiler gate for books two through eight.Slava gives book one an honest first-timer's grade, and Jonathan makes the case for the full series. We explain LitRPG for beginners, how the series started as a free web serial on Royal Road, and the cat-show job that inspired Princess Donut. We trace the death game genre from Stephen King's The Running Man and The Long Walk through The Hunger Games and Squid Game, and get into how Dinniman uses Patreon reader feedback to keep eight books moving.Stopped after book one? Tell us why in the comments. Kept going? Drop a line Slava won't understand yet.(00:00) - Intro: Is Dungeon Crawler Carl Worth It? (00:31) - Book One Review: A First-Timer's Take (03:56) - The Cat That Inspired Princess Donut (05:35) - What Is LitRPG? Explained for Beginners (06:54) - Royal Road Roots and the Game Show Layer (08:42) - Death Game Books: King to Hunger Games (13:22) - Spoilers: Why It Picks Up at Book Three (15:02) - Comedy With Real Darkness Underneath (16:15) - Why a Silly Premise Pulls You In (18:52) - How Dinniman Kept It Fresh for 8 Books (21:11) - Should You Keep Reading After Book One? —📺 SUBSCRIBEEpisodes Every Week🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: Wellerson Clemer — https://www.behance.net/wellersonclemer123Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub #DungeonCrawlerCarl #LitRPG

72 agent queries, 64 rejections, and a Christian horror writer who isn't slowing down.Indie horror author Audra Kate joins us to talk Tomato Juice, her querying manuscript Festering Shadows, and writing horror as a person of faith.Audra Kate has 10 books out across self-publishing and indie presses, and she's querying her first adult novel, a zombie horror romance. She walks us through the query package, Query Tracker, comp titles, manuscript wish lists, and why agents now ask for your Instagram numbers. Then we get to the hard question: how a Christian writes possession horror, and why she sees horror as the genre best built to show light beating darkness. She also covers writing Tomato Juice through her family's grief, bridging the gap between R.L. Stine and Stephen King, and how to review a book you didn't like without gutting its author.Audra KateInstagram: @lets.get.lit.literatureTikTok: @lets.get.lit.literature(00:00) - Intro: A Christian Who Writes Horror (03:28) - From Poli-Sci Major to 10 Books (09:44) - Festering Shadows, a Zombie Romance (12:26) - 72 Queries, 64 Rejections (16:00) - Indie vs. Trad: Who Gets Respect? (17:47) - Build Your Platform Before You Query (21:19) - Publishing Is a Business (24:19) - Manuscript Wish Lists and Comp Titles (26:55) - Why Duologies Took Off (28:52) - Seven Years, No Finished Draft (32:04) - What Goes in a Query Package (34:07) - Query Tracker and Indie Press Calls (37:17) - How to Get an Agent's Attention (40:27) - The One-Star "Elder Abuse" Review (45:41) - How a Christian Writes Possession Horror (52:40) - Why Christian Fiction Feels Preachy (57:55) - Tomato Juice: Writing Through Grief (01:05:54) - When Her Grandpa Read Tomato Juice (01:07:55) - Folklore and Mythology in Her Horror (01:10:49) - Side Quest: Slava's Space Horror Pick (01:14:11) - Working-Class Monsters (01:16:43) - Side Quest: Struggle Meals (01:21:08) - Building a Bookstagram Without Burnout (01:24:53) - How to Write a Kind Book Review (01:28:25) - Bookstagram Needs to Touch Grass (01:34:11) - Where to Find Audra Kate —📺 SUBSCRIBENew episodes every week. 🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: Wellerson Clemer — https://www.behance.net/wellersonclemer123Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub #AudraKate #HorrorBooks

Our guest had to put this book down for two weeks. Chapter 35 named the date.We close out PET SEMATARY by Stephen King with John, the listener who talked us into reading it — full spoiler discussion, final episode of four.John is the reason this book was on our list, and he's read it twice: once at 20, once as a father. We start with why it's the rare book you have to walk away from, then get into what actually makes horror work — the slow boil, and whether a story lands when it stops being about a burial ground and starts being about a man with no framework for death. Then forbidden knowledge and control, Judd as the Mephistopheles of Ludlow, whether the ground was discovered or built, who the real hero is, and what happens after the last page.Tell us the book someone talked you into reading in the comments.(00:00) - Intro: The Guest Who Picked This Book (03:11) - The Date That Stopped Him Cold (05:26) - Reading This With a Toddler Nearby (07:03) - Books That Actually Break You (12:29) - King Almost Didn't Publish It (13:36) - Side Quest: Movies That Made Us Cry (20:34) - Why This Became John's Favorite (21:55) - The POV Switch Nobody Notices (24:54) - What Makes a Good Horror Story? (27:24) - Horror and the Human Condition (31:39) - It's Not About the Burial Ground (33:25) - The First Crack in His Worldview (34:30) - The King Multiverse Connections (36:20) - Why Forbidden Knowledge Pulls Us In (38:33) - Knowledge Without the Suffering (42:46) - Made for Another World (45:24) - The Quick Fix That Ruined Everything (47:03) - All He Had to Give Up Was the Cat (48:21) - Judd as Mephistopheles (50:25) - Advice That Quietly Ruins You (53:06) - COVID and the Illusion of Control (54:55) - Three Lies We Live By (58:07) - What Is the Burial Ground, Really? (59:36) - Discovered, Not Created (01:03:06) - Steve Is the Real Hero (01:04:46) - What Happens After the Last Page (01:05:57) - Books King Planned vs Winged (01:07:57) - The Best Sentence in the Book (01:10:07) - King Got Hit by a Van (01:11:27) - Side Quest: Do You Smell Your Books? (01:13:46) - Final Thoughts The Side Quest Book Club Podcast is a weekly deep-dive book review for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror fans who love getting lost in worlds. Hosts Jonathan and Slava break down Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere (including the Stormlight Archive), the works of Stephen King, and the best and most overlooked fantasy, sci-fi, and speculative fiction.🎙️ New episodes every Tuesday: full spoiler discussions, world-building, character analysis, and book club arguments that make you want to re-read the book to prove Jonathan wrong. We take a break during summer but have a full catalog for you to listen to.What we cover:📚 Brandon Sanderson — Cosmere deep dives, Stormlight Archive chapter-by-chapter👑 Stephen King podcast — from IT  to The Mist, and everything in between🐉 Fantasy literature analysis — hidden gems, classics, and what makes great world-building🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.(00:00) - Intro: The Guest Who Picked This Book (03:11) - The Date That Stopped Him Cold (05:26) - Reading This With a Toddler Nearby (07:03) - Books That Actually Break You (12:29) - King Almost Didn't Publish It (13:36) - Side Quest: Movies That Made Us Cry (20:34) - Why This Became John's Favorite (21:55) - The POV Switch Nobody Notices (24:54) - What Makes a Good Horror Story? (27:24) - Horror and the Human Condition (31:39) - It's Not About the Burial Ground (33:25) - The First Crack in His Worldview (34:30) - The King Multiverse Connections (36:20) - Why Forbidden Knowledge Pulls Us In (38:33) - Knowledge Without the Suffering (42:46) - Made for Another World (45:24) - The Quick Fix That Ruined Everything (47:03) - All He Had to Give Up Was the Cat (48:21) - Judd as Mephistopheles (50:25) - Advice That Quietly Ruins You (53:06) - COVID and the Illusion of Control (54:55) - Three Lies We Live By (58:07) - What Is the Burial Ground, Really? (59:36) - Discovered, Not Created (01:03:06) - Steve Is the Real Hero (01:04:46) - What Happens After the Last Page (01:05:57) - Books King Planned vs Winged (01:07:57) - The Best Sentence in the Book (01:10:07) - King Got Hit by a Van (01:11:27) - Side Quest: Do You Smell Your Books? (01:13:46) - Final Thoughts —📺 SUBSCRIBEhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/@sidequestpodcast🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: CharacterNorth6081 — https://www.instagram.com/parasss.__Music: HoliznaCC0Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub 

Grief driven by madness, or madness driven by grief? We never settled it.We break down part three of PET SEMATARY by Stephen King — full spoiler discussion of the final act.Gage is back, and nothing after that goes well. We argue about how much the Wendigo actually knows and whether a word it says is true, whether a toddler can kill in cold blood, and why King arms a doctor with a scalpel and a bottle of morphine. Then the craft: why the tension in Pet Sematary never stops climbing when most authors peak and release, what separates horror that works from horror that doesn't, and why he almost left this manuscript in a drawer. Plus the connections hiding across his catalog.Tell us what makes good horror work for you in the comments.(00:00) - Intro: Gage Comes Back Wrong (01:04) - Creepy Kids and Why King Works (05:20) - Can We Trust the Wendigo? (08:45) - Side Quest: DARE Was an MLM (12:01) - Gage, the Wendigo, and Cold Blood (14:12) - Side Quest: Use Your Hands (16:03) - Gage Is Only a Shell (19:48) - Scalpels, Morphine, and Doctors (21:44) - The Wendigo Delays Rachel (24:03) - Tension That Never Stops Rising (27:02) - Horror Authors Who Do It Right (29:33) - What Makes Horror Actually Work (32:35) - Horror Needs Contrast (34:56) - Why King's Endings Get Ragged On (39:15) - Louis's Descent Into Madness (40:40) - The Book King Almost Didn't Publish (43:01) - Grief, Madness, or Both? (44:51) - What Happens to Ellie? (46:41) - Who's Actually Responsible? (49:18) - Ludlow vs Derry (51:46) - Ambiguity vs Spoon-Feeding (54:50) - Side Quest: Apologizing to Miéville (56:30) - Why Spec Fic Frustrates Us (58:05) - Final Thoughts The Side Quest Book Club Podcast is a weekly deep-dive book review for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror fans who love getting lost in worlds. Hosts Jonathan and Slava break down Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere (including the Stormlight Archive), the works of Stephen King, and the best and most overlooked fantasy, sci-fi, and speculative fiction.🎙️ New episodes every Tuesday: full spoiler discussions, world-building, character analysis, and book club arguments that make you want to re-read the book to prove Jonathan wrong. We take a break during summer but have a full catalog for you to listen to.What we cover:📚 Brandon Sanderson — Cosmere deep dives, Stormlight Archive chapter-by-chapter👑 Stephen King podcast — from IT  to The Mist, and everything in between🐉 Fantasy literature analysis — hidden gems, classics, and what makes great world-building🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts—📺 SUBSCRIBEhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/@sidequestpodcast🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: CharacterNorth6081 — https://www.instagram.com/parasss.__Music: HoliznaCC0Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub 

The author was too scared to publish this book. Here's what to know before you read it.Everything you need to know before reading PET SEMATARY by Stephen King. Spoiler-free up front, full spoilers after the warning.We start with the setup: Louis Creed moves his family to Ludlow, Maine, befriends his neighbor, Judd Crandall, and learns what waits beyond the deadfall at the pet cemetery. Then we cover the real events behind the book, including a family cat lost on a busy road and a toddler pulled back from it, and how Tabitha talked Stephen King into publishing it.After the spoiler warning, we walk through the book's three graves, argue over how much of the Wendigo's influence there is, and answer the question every reader asks: would you use the Micmac burial ground?(00:00) - Intro: What to Know Before You Read (00:30) - Spoiler-Free Plot Summary (03:34) - The True Story Behind Pet Sematary (05:01) - Why King Almost Didn't Publish It (06:53) - Spoilers: Grave One and the First Lie (08:19) - Would You Bury Your Pet There? (09:24) - Why Does Judd Share the Secret? (11:54) - Grave Two: Too Close to Home (12:58) - Would You Do It for Family? (14:20) - The Wendigo's Pull on Louis and Judd (15:34) - Grave Three and That Final Line (17:44) - Final Verdict: Is It Worth Reading? —📺 SUBSCRIBEEpisodes Every Week: [YouTube channel URL]?sub_confirmation=1🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: [EDITOR]Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub #PetSematary #HorrorBooks

One of us argues the Wendigo doesn't need to be real for part two to work.Part 2 of 4 on PET SEMATARY by Stephen King. Spoilers through part two only.Jonathan calls this the scariest King book he's read, and not because of jump scares — it's dread, and it got worse reading it through fog on four hours of sleep. Slava counters that only one book has ever truly creeped him out, and it wasn't this one. We dig into the myth itself: the Algonquin folklore, documented cases of Wendigo psychosis, and Winona LaDuke's Wendigo economics. Plus the Timmy Baterman warning Louis ignores, whether Victor Pascow is a competing force, and why the exhumation is the tensest sequence in the book. Part three is next.(00:00) - Intro: The Scariest King Book Yet (04:42) - Books That Actually Creeped Us Out (07:56) - What Makes a Book Scary? (11:53) - Nitpick: Why Is Louis So Tired? (16:37) - The Fight With His Father-in-Law (19:56) - Digging Up the Grave (22:21) - When Did the Wendigo Get Louis? (25:05) - How Each Character Handles Death (28:58) - Hyper-Rationality Breaks Him (32:49) - Side Quest: Villains We Understand (34:11) - The Timmy Baterman Warning (37:08) - Louis Ignores Every Warning (38:23) - Wendigo Folklore Deep Dive (44:07) - The Wendigo Folktale, Read Aloud (46:45) - Power the Human Mind Can't Hold (47:52) - Victor Pascow, the Ghost Guide (52:14) - Monkey's Paw and Frankenstein (54:06) - Rachel's Race Home (56:25) - Why Did It Choose Louis? (01:00:20) - Do We Need the Exposition? (01:02:14) - Final Thoughts —📺 SUBSCRIBEhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/@sidequestpodcast🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: Wellerson Clemer https://www.behance.net/wellersonclemer123Music: HoliznaCC0Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub #PetSematary #StephenKing

King put this one in a drawer. He only published it to finish out a contract.Part 1 of 4 on PET SEMATARY by Stephen King. Spoilers through part one only — two of us are reading it for the first time.Slava has read it twice. Jonathan and Josh are going in blind, which means predictions, wrong theories, and one running joke that this is King's debut novel about neutering animals. We get into why he shelved the manuscript, the real Maine road that inspired it, whether Rachel's reaction to the pet cemetery is irrational or something the burial ground is doing to her, and Slava's theory about who Victor Pascow really is. Plus a long side quest on the AI slop problem in creative work — including the stuff we used to run in our own episodes and why we stopped. Part two brings the Wendigo.(00:00) - Intro: Spoiler-Free Plot Summary (02:14) - The Ending and Our Predictions (06:08) - The Book King Put in a Drawer (07:42) - Are Stephen King Books Actually Scary? (10:47) - Side Quest: Seances and Houdini (15:35) - The Creeds Arrive in Ludlow (17:25) - Rachel's Reaction to the Pet Sematary (19:05) - Two Ways of Facing Death (22:23) - Death, Religion, and King's Worldview (26:48) - Judd, the Father Louis Never Had (29:18) - Side Quest: We Lost Community (32:26) - Side Quest: What Parents Don't Teach (37:17) - Death After Death After Death (39:50) - Louis Lies About the Cat (40:51) - The Victor Pascal Dream (42:35) - Our Wendigo Theory (45:02) - Rachel's Backstory (48:32) - Watching Someone Die in Front of You (50:42) - How Part One Ends (52:39) - Side Quest: Open Loops and Cliffhangers (54:20) - Writing to Process Your Own Life (56:08) - Putting Yourself Into Your Characters (01:02:23) - Side Quest: Using AI to Write (01:05:43) - AI Is a Tool, Not a Shortcut (01:07:39) - Our Own Use of AI Slop (01:11:32) - Side Quest: Behind the Curtain (01:13:37) - Final Thoughts —📺 SUBSCRIBEhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/@sidequestpodcast🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: CharacterNorth6081 — https://www.instagram.com/parasss.__Music: HoliznaCC0Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub #PetSematary #StephenKing

She built an author platform with a public money ledger and an e-reader she says rivals Kindle.We sit down with Jules, founder of thing.pub — the ARC and beta reader platform built for the author community.Jules walks us through the proprietary e-reader that carries almost any book's formatting into near-print visual fidelity, and the book showcase pages that give authors a customizable marketing hub — accent colors, genre and trope filters, representation tags, buy links, and QR codes for conventions. We get into the public financial ledger she built for full transparency, the human-verification process and protections against AI scrapers, premium cosmetic themes that fund the platform while keeping every core function free, and how to get on the waitlist. Closed beta is coming. Sign up at thing.pub and tag the author friends who need it.Jules' Platform: https://thing.pub(00:00) - Intro: Closed Beta & Bug Hunting (01:23) - The E-Reader That Rivals Kindle (02:53) - Custom Book Showcase Pages (05:10) - Premium Themes for Your Book Page (06:39) - Free vs. Paid & the Money Ledger (07:54) - How to Join thing.pub (09:44) - Vetted Pros: Editors & Artists (10:42) - Subscriptions & Cosmetics (11:40) - Final Thoughts The Side Quest Book Club Podcast is a weekly deep-dive book review for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror fans who love getting lost in worlds. Hosts Jonathan and Slava break down Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere (including the Stormlight Archive), the works of Stephen King, and the best and most overlooked fantasy, sci-fi, and speculative fiction.🎙️ New episodes every Tuesday: full spoiler discussions, world-building, character analysis, and book club arguments that make you want to re-read the book to prove Jonathan wrong. We take a break during summer but have a full catalog for you to listen to.What we cover:📚 Brandon Sanderson — Cosmere deep dives, Stormlight Archive chapter-by-chapter👑 Stephen King podcast — from IT  to The Mist, and everything in between🐉 Fantasy literature analysis — hidden gems, classics, and what makes great world-building🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts—📺 SUBSCRIBEhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/@sidequestpodcast🎧 LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSIONAll platforms: https://linktr.ee/asidequest🌐 JOIN THE GUILDOfficial website / Quest Log: https://www.thesidequestpodcast.com/💬 FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURESInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidequestpodcastTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@sidequestpodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/WAPRX9Hbq🎬 CREDITSHosts: Slava and JonathanEditing: CharacterNorth6081 — https://www.instagram.com/parasss.__Music: HoliznaCC0Distribution: Transistor.fm — https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=slavaSide Quest Book Club is a podcast about books, the people who write them, and the tangents in between.Some links above are referral links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.#SideQuestBookClub