Mar 25 2025 57 mins 3
Join Justin as he chats with musician, artist, and author Jo Gamel and writer and editor of DMR Books D.M. Ritzlin about the release of Swords of Steel IV, the depths of the Pongus Maw, songwriting, mythology, Vran the Chaos-Warped, and more!
Jo Gamel bio:
“Jo Gamel is a multidisciplinary artist living in Philadelphia. Her process is heavily influenced by the practice of Art-as-Therapy, which she studied at the Master’s level at Antioch University Seattle. She has lived as an ESL instructor in Sweden and Turkey, and traveled to over 28 countries, including award-funded trips to Finland and Russia, all of which has informed her anthropological interests in goddesses, religious architecture, feminism and theology. Her family’s mixed spiritualties include Judaism, Polish Catholicism, English and Irish Episcopalianism, Celtic Wiccan, and Japanese Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. Her work has been shown in galleries in Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle and New Jersey.
Jo Gamel is the founder of Tutor of the Arts LLC, as well as an art education instructor, a private tutor, a curator, and an art gallery assistant. Now, she is writing a textbook on the chemistry and physics of oil paint with co-author Dr. Michael Mackay in order to expand the understanding of the creation of archival paintings. She also is debuting a Hard Rock album with her band, Jüpiter, along side her latest body of work, both of which explore the Power of Venus as employed by female Rock musicians.”
D.M. Ritzlin bio:
“D.M. Ritzlin founded DMR Books in 2015 with the aim of revitalizing sword-and-sorcery literature. DMR’s publications include reprints of classic material by authors such as Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, and Clark Ashton Smith, as well as brand-new collections and anthologies by some of the finest fantasy writers active today. Ritzlin’s first collection of his own stories, Necromancy in Nilztiria, was released in October 2020.
This was followed by a novel, Vran the Chaos-Warped (2023), and a second collection, Dark Dreams of Nilztiria (2024). His tales mix action, horror, wonder, and gallows humor in varying degrees. Lately the field of role-playing games has recaptured Ritzlin’s attention. His first professionally published adventure module, The Lair of the Brain Eaters, was released through one of the best-known publishers of old school RPG material, Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
Prior to his involvement in publishing, Ritzlin worked in the antique map trade, among other fields. He lives in Chicago, the city of his birth.”
Intro and outro theme created by Wyrm. Support Wyrm by visiting the Serpents Sword Records bandcamp page (linked below):
https://serpentsswordrecords.bandcamp.com/
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