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Today's guest on the podcast is Rob Angel, the inventor of the board game Pictionary, whose new book, Game Changer: The Story of Pictionary and How I Turned a Simple Idea into the Bestselling Board Game in the World released this month. Rob shares his ideas on creativity, self-starting, and the similarities between being a writer and being a game creator.
By Gen LaGreca
Are there great novels, short stories, plays, and feature films that thrilled you, shocked you, gave you moments of nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat suspense, or that got you thinking about important issues? Did you ever wonder about the power of fiction to inform and inspire us.
News stories, text books, essays, articles, white papers, and nonfiction books give us a straight-forward account of factual issues, whereas works of fiction tell us a story. Fiction comes from the imagination filled with adventure, excitement, romance, intrigue, suspense, and the full gamut of emotions.
Nonfiction or Fiction? Which do you remember more?
The difference between nonfiction and fiction is like the difference between reading a flight manual and actually being in the cockpit and going for a ride.
For example, let's take an historical event: Sherman's March and the burning of Atlanta during the Civil War. How do we remember it? Through a textbook account of military strategies, generals, battles, and timelines? Or do we remember Sherman's March far more vividly from a scene in the novel and film Gone With the Wind? We’re in the middle of Sherman’s siege. Atlanta is wildly ablaze and in utter chaos. Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler are in a teetering wagon with a half-dead horse driving it. A mother and her just-born child are in the back of the wagon, with the mother trying to shield the infant from falling debris from the fires all around them. The characters are desperately trying to escape Atlanta, but the Confederate army is in full retreat coming at them, slowing them down—and an ammunition depot is about to explode.
You can see how fiction makes that historical event come to life in a haunting, shocking way.
Fiction depicts great struggles for freedom and independence.
The ancient myth of Prometheus relates how he stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. This empowered humans so that they were no longer subservient to the deities who ruled them. The gods were so infuriated by losing their power over mankind that they chained Prometheus to a rock and cruelly punished him for eternity. The quest of humans to break free from a ruling class echoes through time and is a great theme for works of fiction.
Did you know that storytelling played a role in the American Revolution? The popular 18th century play "Cato: A Tragedy" dramatized the struggle of a political leader of Ancient Rome, Cato, who fought for republicanism against Julius Caesar's tyranny. This play was so important to George Washington that he defied a Congressional order banning the performance of plays during wartime and had the work performed to inspire his troops after their harsh winter at Valley Forge. Washington didn’t give his troops a lecture or a pep talk to boost their spirits. Instead, he used the sweeping drama of a play.
In the prelude to the American Civil War, the most influential abolitionist writing was a novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was this book—a work of fiction—that became an international bestseller and galvanized the North against the evils of slavery.
Fiction has also shown us the face of evil in grim detail. The term Big Brother, which originated from George Orwell’s novel 1984, has become the enduring worldwide symbol of tyranny. We still use this term today, over 70 years since the novel’s original publication in 1949.
Novels have contained moving messages about freedom. Ayn Rand’s epic philosophical novel, Atlas Shrugged, shows us the role of the individual’s free, creative mind and productive activities as the generator of human progress. This novel has inspired millions to embrace the glory of freedom.
Stories that dramatize important ideas have always inspired me in my writing.
With no pretensions to the above works intended, I strive in my novels to create strong plots interwoven with thought-provoking themes. My new novel, Just the Truth, is a political thriller that portrays the threats to a free press in an era of growing government power and the fearless spirit of one journalist, Laura Taninger, who risks her career, her reputation—and ultimately her life— to uncover a scheme that just might subvert free elections in America. Just when Laura is on to suspicious activities surrounding the reelection of president Ken Martin, her source within the administration is murdered. This courageous newswoman battles the most powerful political players to keep journalism, a free press—and truth—alive. Through a gripping murder mystery, the novel brings to life the importance of a responsible and independent press, an accountable government, and the rule of law.
I love to write fiction that offers a full plate of plot action served with a generous pour of intoxicating ideas. Are you ready for a sizzling read? I’m inviting you to my table.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Genevieve (Gen) LaGreca writes novels with innovative plots, strong romance, and themes that glorify individual freedom and independence. She has written novels of different genres including historical, mystery, and romance fiction as well as short stories. She is one of the successful new indie authors whose novels have topped the charts in the popular ebook format. Her latest book is called, Just the Truth.
Happy Friday everyone! I’m excited to be bringing you the cover for my next release, The Initial Insult, which I pitch as “Edgar Allan Poe meets The Tiger King.” Enter to win a finished copy (when available) below!
Welcome to Amontillado, Ohio, where your last name is worth more than money, and secrets can be kept… for a price.
Tress Montor knows that her family used to mean something—until she didn’t have a family anymore. When her parents disappeared seven years ago while driving her best friend home, Tress lost everything. She might still be a Montor, but the entire town shuns her now that she lives with her drunken, one-eyed grandfather at what locals refer to as the “White Trash Zoo,” – a wild animal attraction featuring a zebra, a chimpanzee, and a panther, among other things.
Felicity Turnado has it all – looks, money, and a secret that she’s kept hidden. She knows that one misstep could send her tumbling from the top of the social ladder, and she’s worked hard to make everyone forget that she was with the Montors the night they disappeared. Felicity has buried what she knows so deeply that she can’t even remember what it is… only that she can’t look at Tress without having a panic attack.
But she’ll have to.
Tress has a plan. A Halloween costume party at an abandoned house provides the ideal situation for Tress to pry the truth from Felicity – brick by brick – as she slowly seals her former best friend into a coal chute. With a drunken party above them, and a loose panther on the prowl, Tress will have her answers – or settle for revenge.
In the first book of this duology, award-winning author Mindy McGinnis draws inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe and masterfully delivers a dark, propulsive mystery in alternating points of view that unravels a friendship . . . forevermore.
