A podcast by three fantasy authors who love to overcomplicate their writing lives and want to help you do the same.
Worldbuilding for Masochists started out with a simple idea: we love worldbuilding, and we wanted to share that niche geekery with others. As one way to explore the joy of worldbuilding, we decided to build a world together, on-air, cooperatively, and to add to the fun, we asked our guests to help.
We love every worldbuilding idea gift we’ve received from our podcast guests - but one turned out to be a game-changer in how we understood and developed the world. Kate Elliott gave us a system of portals connecting locations in the world. The catch? No luggage. The gate will only let living creatures pass through, meaning no sending weapons, trade goods, or even – ahem – your own clothing through the gate. Your esteemed hosts, having the sense of humor of twelve-year-olds at a sleepover after too much Mountain Dew, christened it The Magical Nude Gate.
And thus the MNG was born.
As time went on, we realized – wow! Connecting geographically disparate cultures with the gates would radically affect this world! Having gate communication would impact trade, geo-politics, diaspora, the spread of ideas! Entire economies, the development of cities, even unique cultures might spring up around gate travel! A gate that dissolves someone’s clothes and pops them into another country would make for excellent practical jokes!
And of course – how many incredible stories might this system of gates give us?
We decided to find out.
We solicited some Friends of the Podcast to contribute stories, and in the summer of 2023, we launched a Kickstarter to fund the creation of this anthology. We also took submissions and chose two stories from previously unpublished writers to include in the mix!
Available in
- Bookshop
- Barnes & Noble
- Amazon
- Or ask your local independent bookstore to order it for you!
Ebook
The anthology includes the following stories:
- VIGNETTES FROM THE HILTHSTAD by Cass Morris
- DEAD MAN'S MAP by Marie Brennan
- THROWING MUSES by Mike Chen
- MUSIC TO YOUR EARS by J.C. Pillard
- THE CLOTHIER OF ALENNI by Victor Manibo
- CANDIDATE ELEVEN by Kate Elliott
- SILVER AND GOLD by Rowenna Miller
- MARIT THE RESOLUTE by Lindsey Carmichael
- LUMI & THE NAVIGATOR by Natania Barron
- COURIER'S HONOR by Valerie Valdes
- CHASING THE SUN by Marshall Ryan Maresca
- SCHEMES, FACTIONS, AND CULTURE Non-fiction essay by Michael R. Underwood