Nerdology 101: Word Choice

Hey, hey! How are you, my lovely little nerds? If you’re new here, welcome to Nerdology 101. I’m Maria Levato. I’m an indie author, anime-lover, mood gamer, regular reader, and a load of other random stuff. This is my blog, Nerdology 101, where I talk about whatever nerdy topic comes to mind. This week, that topic is word choice. So, let’s get into some Nerdology!

What is Word Choice?

Word choice refers to the selection of words for the purpose of amplifying a story. In some cases, this is a line-level tool that keeps the reader engaged. After all, how boring would a romance be if the MMC only ever called the FMC beautiful instead of lovely, ethereal, gorgeous, luscious, etc. In other cases, though, particularly in fantasy, word choice can also act as an immersion mechanism that reinforces world-building. That’s more so what I’m going to focus on today.

Common Alterations in Fantasy Writing

Perhaps the most common instance you see what I’m referring to is when characters say "gods” instead of “god” or “by the gods” instead of “oh my god” because the dominant religion in the fantasy world is polytheistic and therefore common language would have developed to represent that. We also see iterations of this pretty commonly in fantasy where goddesses are centered where language might be altered to say “my goddess” or “by the goddesses” to be represent the world the author is writing in. These choices are important. While world-building certainly requires some thought on the giant, prominent aspects, it’s the decisions like this that make it feel like the world is fundamentally different. If this world abides by different overall norms, that has to be reflected in the small stuff because a world totally different from our own would lead to beings who think and speak differently from how we do. So, sometimes, world-building requires some adjustments on the word choice front.

In My Writing

One decision I made for my The Islands of Rune series early on was that I’d use “hel” instead of “hell” because the dominant religion and magic system were based in Norse mythology. Hel, in Norse mythology, is a goddess who rules over Helheim, one of the nine realms. Hell, in Norse mythology, doesn’t exist. So, in order to accurately reflect the world I was writing in, hel was the better word choice.

I also applied that to common phrases. We say “come hell and highwater” in regards to loyalty and standing by someone even when it’s difficult to do. I could have just changed it to “through hel and highwater” and that would have been fine, I suppose, but I wanted to put in the effort to think about it a little bit more because I felt like I could come up with something more impactful for that phrase than simply dropping an L. So, I used “come Niflheim or Ragnarök”. Granted, I think I only used it once in the book it came up in because it’s not a phrase I needed to use all that often, but using it once in a relevant scenario and using it well was an effective reinforcement of the world and culture I wanted to depict.

Okay, so how did you make those decisions?

Well, in examples like what I mentioned above, I searched the culture for equivalents that worked for the context of I was trying to use it in. I do this for words, phrases, and terms of endearment. Seshen, used in my most recent book, The Fate of Angels and Demons, is sourced from ancient Egypt, which is what that character’s culture was based on. There’s another nickname, used in one of my WIPs, that sourced a term of endearment from the Greek language so it more accurately represented the character I was writing would use. Whenever you need a word and it’s for the purpose of representing the world, look to the source material. Search the mythology, etymology, modern language, and whatever other source material there is on the place that inspired you to create that world. Fantasy is almost always based on the past. Your answers are probably there somewhere.

Other Reasons for Doing This

On top of being an effective writing tool, this also acts as a way to show respect to the culture that inspired you. The difference between appropriation and appreciation often lies in conscious effort. Asking questions like “how does this belief system effect how language develops?”, “How do people in this place refer to this thing?”, “Is there something from the source culture I can use to adjust this and make it more accurate or real?”, and “What terms are actually used in this culture to express the idea I want to base this on?” is a pretty good sign that you’re actually thinking about and admiring the culture your writing is based on, rather than just using it for your own gain without proper consideration for it. Making those small, conscious decisions let people know that even if you did get something wrong—which you will likely do at some point—it wasn’t because you didn’t care enough to try.

Of course, this isn’t to say everyone who doesn’t do this is appropriating a culture. It’s just to say that this is one way of paying homage to a culture that inspired you.

Anyway, that’s about it for this segment of Nerdology 101. I hope you enjoyed it (and that it gave you some additional perspective on word choice). See ya back next week for whatever rant I come up with next. Until then, have a nerdy week!

Nerdology 101: Pirating

Hiya! Welcome back to Nerdology 101. I’m Indie Author Maria Levato, author of The Fate of Angels and Demons, anime lover, kinky weirdo, and more. This week I wanted to take some time to discuss pirating. In recent days, there’s been a lot of commotion about the new Avatar the Last Airbender movie, The Legend of Aang, being leaked. I’m not here to make anyone who watched the leaked movie feel bad, but to educate consumers on the impacts of leaking and pirating from the POV of the artist.

What is Pirating?

Pirating, in this context, refers to the distribution or consumption of media through unauthorized channels.

What does Pirating Look Like?

Pirating takes many forms. No matter what medium—television, books, etc.—pirating exists across it all. In literature, we most often see it discussed through the lens of advanced reader copies (ARCs) being leaked or resold or LLM’s scraping pirated books that were distributed on the internet for training. In TV, it more often looks like what we see here. A movie or TV show is posted online without the authorization of the studio that produced it.

Most consumers, when they consume pirated materials, aren’t intending to cause harm. They merely want to read or watch something they enjoy. From the consumers end, this isn’t going to do any real harm to the extremely wealthy studio or publisher that produced the media they’re consuming. That is true to some extent. It’s highly unlikely Warner Brothers or Simon and Schuster go out of business on account of pirating. Media giants like the ones I used in this example aren’t the only ones impacted, though. Behind the production of any type of media, there’s usually a team of creatives who depend on the royalties for their livelihoods. Those creatives are who I’m here to talk about.

What Impact Does Pirating Have on the Artists?

First, I’d like to make clear that when I say artist here, I’m using it as an all-encompassing term. Musicians, animators, writers, and any other type of art of can produce is included in this. Piracy impacts us all.

Artists are usually paid via a system called royalties. Royalties are the percentage of the price that go to the artist. This can look a variety of ways. I can’t speak for all artists, but for authors, this is kind of what it looks like:

1. Bookstores place wholesale orders either directly with us or through a mass distribution platform like Ingram. Our royalties are a percentage of that order.

2. We consign books with a bookstore (shifts the upfront cost of ordering and shipping the books to us) and they pay us a percentage of the retail price when it sales.

3. We order books ourselves at a wholesale/author price and sell them at a mark up (retail price) and the difference is our profit (this is the model my special edition of The Fate of Angels and Demons works on).

4. Our books are distributed to online platforms (Everand, Kindle, Hoopla, Libby, etc.), and we are paid for reads (page reads, borrows, this can look different based on platform).

Other kinds of artists may not have these exact models, but something similar-ish.

The problem this creates for the artist is that, if a piece of media is distributed in a way that isn’t able to be tracked, we never get royalties. Even if, for example, someone bought an ebook from us and we made royalties from that, then they posted it online after the fact for others to read, we’d still not be getting royalties for all those other reads. This isn’t the same as letting a friend or family member borrow a physical book or your kindle/nook to read something. With the internet, we’re talking about hundreds, thousands, and sometimes millions of consumers consuming material we made without being paid for it. Sometimes, pirated versions are consumed more than the legally distributed versions and we’re literally making nothing off the hardwork we put into creating it.

There are even some circumstances so extreme that artists have stopped producing new work on account of it. We see a plethora of examples in the world of indie authors, but we also see it in larger forms of media. Anime, in particular, comes to mind for me. As read in this article, Japan as a whole has lost billions in revenue because of the large scale piracy of anime. While this sucks for their economy, it sucks even more for the artists, writers, and animators who work hard to create these anime. A number of shows have been discontinued because piracy made it so they could no longer afford to produce them. So, not only does piracy harm the aritsts livelihood, it harms consumers of the media because it makes it impossible to produce more of. If you want that next book, next season, next song, whatever it may be, the best way to get it is to make sure it’s worth it to the artist to make.

Wait, so this effects me too?

Yup! It’s not just the artist. It’s you too. How many times do you hear fandoms raving something along the lines of “We want ____ spin-off.”

For Naruto fans, it’s a Minato or Itachi spin-off show.

For ATLA fans, it was an gaang as adults show.

For different fandoms, it looks different, but pretty much every fandom has one.

In ATLA (as an example), they had finally given us what we were asking for. A studio was listening to it’s fans, which we beg them to do constantly. But then someone leaked the movie, which isn’t the fault of the fans, but mass consumption of it that hurts the studios bottomline and the artists livelihood, will discourage this studio and others from listening to their fandoms again because it sets the precedent for future leaks on this sort of large scale that they can’t be sure their fandom will condem.

Luckily, I have seen in, in the case of ATLA, more than a few creators say they support the artists and won’t be watching the leaked movie. Hopefully, ethical influencers have been able to influence enough people away from watching the leaked movie that this doesn’t turn into a giant loss for the studio and artists who worked on it.

What if I already consumed pirated material before I knew the impacts?

Your intent, like most consumers, probably wasn’t malicious. Please don’t feel bad. Instead, focus on doing better. There are a few simple steps you can take going forward.

1. Stop consuming pirated material immediately and fully.

2. Report pirating sites to the copyright owners or their agents. Most authors, publishers, etc. have some sort of method to contact them available. For me, it’s the contact form on this website. You can find it on this page. Some other ways to report it are through publisher websites, through the agent an author has listed, or through a studios website. Once they’re made aware, they can submit a DMCA, as explained here.

3. Buy it. Yes, I know you already watched/read/listened to it, but if you can afford to, buy it so the artists get paid.

4. If you can afford it buy it, borrow it from a legitimate free source. I’ll provide a few in the next section.

5. Review it. If you’ve accidentally consumed pirated material, reviewing it might help legitimate versions get more attention. Goodreads and retailer websites are great places to leave book reviews. While reviewing absolutely does not justify continued piracy, if you genuinely didn’t know how harmful was an consumed it before reading this, reviewing it would definitely help offset some of those damages. Artists depend a lot on reviews, particularly for visibility. The more reviews something has, the more the algorithms will recommend it to other readers who might enjoy it. This is particularly impactful if the material came from a small, up and coming, or indie artist of some kind since they’re already likely to be struggling to get a substantial amount of reviews.

Okay, now what are these legitimate platforms where I can consume media for free while still supporting the artists?

1. Libraries! Libraries! Libraries! They don’t just have books. Go to your local library.

2. Overdrive and associated platforms. Overdrive is a distribution platform. They own Libby, Kanopy, and other platforms. All you need is a library card! It’s a great place to find media that is free to you. They have an assortment of media types too. Music, TV, movies, and of course books (ebook and audiobook).

3. Hoopla. Much like Overdrive’s platforms, Hoopla is a digital service that runs through public libraries. They offer just as many different types of media, but all on one platform!

4. Openstax. While both Overdrive and Hoopla offer plenty of educational media, as well as media meant for entertainment, Openstax is a great place to find free, properly liscenced textbooks. Perfect for AP/college students looking for some extra study, or homeschoolers.

5. Khan Academy. Looking for educational material for the K-12 levels? Khan Academy is free!

6. Library of Congress. The LOC has a whole catagory of “Free to Use” media. These are things in the public domain. There is no longer a copyright holder for them, so you can consume it, or create something new from this media without worry. Most of the things in here are older, but old isn’t always bad.

Conclusion

So, now ya know! I hope this post taught you something about royalties, piracy, or free resources you can use to consume media. I’ll see you back for the next segment of Nerdology 101 next Friday. Until then, have a nerdy week!

Nerdology 101: Why Write?

Hello, nerdy beloveds. Welcome back to Nerdology 101. I'm your host, Maria Levato, and this week you’re going to discover the why behind my writing. Let’s get into some Nerdology!

The Official Bio:

Every author has one, here’s mine. As seen on the homepage of this website, this is my official bio:

“Maria Levato is an author, BIPOC woman, and disabled veteran. She has written three books as an indie author, The Islands of Rune (2023), Journey to Rallem (2025), and The Fate of Angels and Demons (2026). Maria also writes the Nerdology 101 blog on this website.

Outside of her writing, Maria serves the writing community in other ways. She’s the chair of the PRO Advisory Committee for the Romance Writers of America and an ambassador for the Washington, D.C. chapter of The Authors Guild.”

You didn’t come here for that today, though, did you? You want the goodies. So, let’s move right along.

The Fun Bio:

Oh, babes, you’re in for it now.

Who I am and what I do are two very different topics. While my work is a huge part of who I am, there’s so much behind the scenes that doesn’t make it into the bio. If you can’t tell by the name of this blog, I’m a nerd. Niches are my thing. Most nerds, being moderately sane human beings, pick a niche and stick to it. I, however, never have and never will claim to be sane. Thus, I have somewhere in the realm of 5,000 niches I consistently obsess over and another 1,000 or so that come and go with the wind. There are certain core ones that, in my mind, are all interconnected and lead back to a single hobby: Culture. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, a national art museum or a ren faire, writing or folding Reese cup wrappers into flowers so I have an excuse to eat a whole bag of minis, deep diving on mythology and history, or passionately raving about current events because I think we should treat people like people, it all comes down to culture for me. I don’t care which culture; I love them all.

Cultures humanize people in a way few other things do. Cultures surrounding race, ethnicity, and nationality are often what we think of when we think about culture, but under each comes a plethora of subcultures that make the experience even richer. Some of the favorite examples in my life now are Black Goth/Alt/Punk/etc. culture (music like Magnolia Park, collectives like Punk Black, events like Blerd Con, etc.), nerdy culture, Irish resistance music (like Chasing Abbey), Indigenous empowerment culture (music like Young Spirit, stores like Eighth Generation, etc.), and even kink/BDSM. Exploring these subcultures has always been what interests me most because it’s such a fun, supportive, and connective way to widen my own perspective. So, there I went, deep into the nerdom where I eventually discovered all of that stuff I love. The books, the anime, the art, the travel, these spaces are where I feel most like myself because so many other people are also free to be themselves in it.

Of course, then I grew up. Life happened; it sucked. Somewhere in there I lost track of who I was. What do we do when we lose something? We retrace our steps. Where had I last seen myself? Why, in the nerdom, of course. After remembering how happy this stuff made me, I was like, “hey, you what sounds like a fun way to cope with life?”

“Writing stories about nerdy shit and sex!” My brain replied.

It wasn’t really what I had in mind, I was thinking something wayyy less demanding, but my brain insisted so that’s what I did and now I love it. Three books later here I am explaining to you how a childhood love of culture resurfaced as the unhinged, smutty coping mechanism I sell to other people who are also fond of unhinged, smutty coping mechanisms. It’s really a full circle kind of thing. I love this life, though. It allows me to be connected to all the awesome things that I love by creating and adding something to the bookish subculture and wider nerdy community.

That’s pretty much the summary of how I became a writer and why I choose to write diverse, creative, outside the box, spicy fantasy books. You should give my newest one, The Fate of Angels and Demons, a read. The special edition can be found HERE and the paperback and ebook formats can be found HERE. Hope to see you back next week for another segment of Nerdology 101. Until then, have a nerdy week!

Nerdology 101: Decision-Making for Characters

Hey there! Welcome back to Nerdology 101, the blog where no nerd is left unsatisfied. I'm your host, Maria Levato. This week, I thought we'd talk about writing the tough decisions.

Every writer comes across a point where their character must make a decision. They have to go down one road or another, but sometimes they refuse to cooperate. I recently had a character that remained indecisive from the beginning of the draft right up until the end of the story.

Of course, it made for an awesome character arc because the build up to this moment has been quite the journey. However, we reached the point where a decision had to be made. Presented with two options that had similarly good outcomes for her, but potentially devastating ones for those she cares for, my FMC finally had to make her decision about which one of them she was going to hurt. Yet, when it came down to the wire, she went radio silent on me.

It didn't surprise me when she went quiet. She's a stubborn character with a bit of a bratty side. I had expected that she might throw a tantrum when she had to make this decision. So, here's how I dealt with it. Let's get into some Nerdology!

My FMC is quite used to having her way. Not because she's spoiled, but because she's powerful. Quite frankly, most of the other characters are terrified of her! When she gets stuck having to choose between two things she wants, she doesn't know how to cope. As the author, it's my job to coax her back out and help her make the decisions without speaking for her (It works best for me when I see the character as fully autonomous. I'm not sure if all writers do this, but I do.).

To do that, I write everything. It all comes out. Every moment up until the statement declaring the decision gets written. All the emotions, all the things they say and do leading up to it, everything gets on the page. Then, I write the first part of the statement. To oversimplify it, "I choose ____." At which point, all the character actually has to do is give you one answer or another. One I get answer A or B, the why flows post decision.

My point: Don't let the characters decision paralysis stall the story. 

Let them make the decision on the moment because that's probably what's happening on the page. In most instances, you don't need their decision until very last moment. Give them all that time so they can answer intuitively.

Think of it like going to a restaurant. You know you want something from X place but you don't really know what until you get there and look at the menu. You might even order the same thing you always do, but you'll stare at that menu anyway, and you probably won't actually decide until the waitor/waitress walks up and asks if you're ready to order. It's a realistic and relatable thing for a character to do. Don't you agree?

Thanks for stopping by Nerdology 101. Check back next week for another segment. In the meantime, don't forget to pre-order my upcoming release, The Fate of Angels and Demons. Have a nerdy week!

Nerdology 101: Rabbit Holes

There you are! Here to hear me rant about some Nerdology? Of course you are because you’re a good little nerd. Yes, you are. Such a good nerd.

Welcome back to Nerdology 101, I’m your host, Maria Levato, and this week I wanna talk about my beloved rabbit holes (they are sacred and necessary. Do not come for them or I will hiss at you). Rabbit holes are the centerpiece of all my best writing, so today I’m going to tell you about a few of my recent favs. Whaddya say? Wanna get into some Nerdology? Let’s gooo!

1. How I Define the Difference between Rabbit Hole and Regular Research

   Could I have effectively written what I was trying to write without knowing this? If yes, it’s probably a rabbit hole. I do note, though, that the fact that I could write something without the information doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no benefit to writing it with it. Oftentimes, I find that writing with the additional information is the difference between producing something that sounds right to someone with no familiarity and producing something that sounds right to someone who knows. For example, geography. I once wrote a short story where a majority of the events took place in Dublin, Ireland. I could have convincingly wrote some version of “We ate at a restaurant by the River Liffey.” and most American’s likely would have accepted that as enough detail. Instead, I wrote that the characters ate at PHX Bistro, a small restaurant by the River Liffey. That’s a detail that would help the story feel more like its truly happening in Dublin to someone from Dublin, or to others that have been there. It wouldn’t necessarily have been bad writing if I didn’t name a specific restaurant, but that little bit of detail made it a bit more tangible. Of course, that’s not a rabbit hole in and of itself because I didn’t research that so much as I just knew it from travelling, but it’s a great example of how a detail might make a big difference in how convincing the writing is. Thus, my argument that rabbit hole as sacred stands.

2. Recent Rabbit Hole - Demons

   (Note: For context, it’s useful to know that I write romantasy. Romance that is central to the plot based in a completely fictional world of my own making. However, there’s a paranormal and mythological element in the sense that my characters are often angels, demons, gods, priestesses, etc.. My magic systems and set ups are often based in a slew of different beliefs, taking elements from them to create something original. So, my research is often in finding those puzzle pieces from various belief systems, cultures, and periods of history to build it).

   For reasons I can’t explain without spoiling future releases, this one was extremely useful. So, did you know that the modern word demon comes the Greek word Daimon, which just meant deity? There was no evil connotation on the word until the Catholic Church came into the picture. Presumably, the word Daimon being used to refer to deities that weren’t their preferred deity and therefore it picked up a negative/evil connotation as they gained more power throughout Europe since they were monotheistic and viewed the worship of other deities as an evil act. But yeah, demons are pretty much just deities and whether they are a threat or not depends mostly on who you are and what demon you’re interacting with. Not every demon we see discussed in texts about them is necessarily hostile towards humans. The Lemegeton, for example, talks about demons, but it also goes into detail when classifying them. It speaks about their personalities, the danger or lackthereof in interacting with them, and more. This sort of implies that there was an understanding in medieval Europe, at least among those who sought out this type of knowledge, that demons weren’t necessarily evil. That understanding prevails today in some ways, though its became increasingly less prevailing for a few decades because of media portrayals, then took a turn in more recent years where that understanding started to revitalize itself. Needless to say, there are plenty of people who still cling to the evil connotation of the word, but it only really holds up when held under the lens of a monotheistic theology.

   Point being that etymology proves quite useful in writing fantasy. Knowing this helped me lead a character to a huge moment of self-discovery that I was able to write extremely well because I had gone down the rabbit hole to get the right information to make it work. It was also just fun because it set off a slew of personal research that really doesn’t have anything to do with what I’m writing, but I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I like learning about these things, and who knows? Info that isn’t relevant to my writing can occassionally resurface later as being exactly what I need. It’s sort of unpredictable that way.

3. Recent Rabbit Hole - Mesopotamia

   Another topic I recently had to do some digging on was Mesopotamia, the gods of the culture and time, and it’s geographic placement compared to modern maps. My findings were prettty cool. I hadn’t looked into Mesopotamia too much before this so I went in with very little background knowledge to base my research on, which is rare because usually these types of things are matters I’m led to write about because of an interest I already have. In this case, though, it was a bit more random. I liked that because it left so much room for inspiration since everything I was getting was new to me. It also gave me a path to learning about Iran a little more (when looking into museums and historic sites) and develop an interest in the culture.

   Because what I was looking into was so broad, I can’t go into all of it here, but I will talk about a point that I found particularly useful. Separating dynasties is an important point when discussing Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was a region more than it was a reference to a specific civilization. Most information is a bit more specific to the empire that was ruling it at the time. There were quite a few changes in power, but for my purposes, I was focused on periods of Sumerian and Akkadian rules (probably what most people are thinking of when they say Mesopotamia. About 3,200B.C. to 2154B.C. for both dynasties). In the dates is a fact that took me a while to wrap my head around. The Old Kingdom era of Ancient Egypt was roughly from 2686-2181B.C. Which means there was a fairly decent overlap in dates where the Akkadian empire and the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt existed at the same time. The Great Pyramids of Giza were constucted a few centuries prior to the fall of the Akkadian dynasty. I’m sure you can imagine all the ways a fantasy writer could utilize that bit of information. Oh yeah… That alone was gold to me. Not to mention all the other great stuff I found while researching. I’m so excited with how its turning out on the page too!

   I hope you all enjoyed hearing about some of my recent rabbit holes. Have you had any of your own of late? Let me know. I’ll see you back next week for another segment of Nerdology 101. Until then, have a nerdy week!

   Sources

   https://www.history.com/articles/mesopotamia

   https://egymonuments.gov.eg/en/monuments/the-great-pyramid

   https://www.britishmuseum.org/learn/schools/ages-7-11/ancient-egypt/timeline-ancient-egypt

   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demon#word-history