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Today on Fable and the Verbivore, we’re sharing our latest book reads conversation — but we went a bit long with this one so this is part 1 of 2 featuring the Verbivore’s stories!

Over the last few months instead of doing our typical bookclub episodes, we’ve started talking about some of the things we’ve recently read and enjoyed, connected with, or learned from. It’s been a great way to share what we’re consuming and loving lately and finding new recommendations.

In this episode, the Verbivore covers a wide range of books and films - hot summer movie release, two book recommendations from Fable, and Stephanie Garber’s Once Upon a Broken Heart books 1 and 2.

We also talk a lot about these stories from a craft perspective, what the authors, writers, or directors did that we found interesting. Things like:

• This Might Get Awkward - Loving your setting and using your descriptions to create wonder within the everyday, Using your beginning to help build to your ending, Giving readers something to hope for

• Better Than the Movies - Knowing what your story is and completely leaning into that, using quotes as framing devices and music to help add depth

• Once Upon a Broken Heart - Having a great sense of tone and magical worldbuilding, Forcing characters to be allies but leaving the motivations uncertain, Morally gray characters who keep you guessing and can surprise you when tested

• Into the Spider-Verse & Across the Spider-Verse - Setting up a trilogy, aging up characters, and growing the story thesis over time

• Elemental - Using life experiences to help find the emotional truth of a story

• The Little Mermaid (2023) - Fairytale retellings for new generations and digging in deeper with a known story

Towards the end of our conversation, we talk about the new film Barbie and how writer and director Greta Gerwig had to fight for what she said was the emotional core of her film. It was a great reminder that some scenes may not have a plot purpose, but may have a story purpose and when you know it belongs there fight to keep it.

We hope you enjoy this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

Books and Films Mentioned:

• This Might Get Awkward by by Kara McDowell

• Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

• Caraval by Stephanie Garber

• Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

• The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

• Finale by Stephanie Garber

• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Directed Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey 

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Directed Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey 

• Elemental - Directed by Peter Sohn

• The Little Mermaid - Directed by Rob Marshall

• Barbie - Directed by Greta Gerwig

• Little Women - Directed by Greta Gerwig

Music from:https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)