Guido Schmidt

@narkerns

Author & Design Director @Rovio Join the launch team for my 2nd book:

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Guido Schmidt@narkerns· 18d

Who is a happy author who just ordered their proof copy? Well, yes! Cover and formatting are done! Now we wait and see how the thing looks in reality. Oh man. Cannot wait. XD #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #amwriting #writingcommunity #WriteSky #BookSky

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· 19d

Writing Emberline while waiting for my other book. Launch team for Game Design: Impossible 2 is still open: 👉 Check the link in my profile and sign up #BookSky #WriteSky #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #amwriting #writingcommunity

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· 20d

From my dark fantasy piece “Emberline” My MC just rallied her men into a desperate last stand and the enemy captain is calling for a parley. #WIPSnip

lowered her own blade and shield but did not put them away. At a safe distance from the three men, she stopped and gave him a long, hard stare.
“My name is Garran Vesk, Captain of the Southroad Company.”
Not sure what she was supposed to answer, she hesitated for a moment.
“I am Maerina… known as the Grim Shieldmaiden.”
This made him raise an eyebrow before he nodded slowly, and let his gaze wander across the dead bodies everywhere.
“Grim indeed.”
Another moment of silence followed. She did not quite understand what he wanted. Was this a humiliation? A trap?

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· 22d

Yes. #writingcommunity #WriteSky #BookSky

A cozy bookstore filled with shelves and stacks of books, overlaid with a social media post by Allyson Cagle. The post reads: “If I ever feel bad about spending $ on books, I just tell myself I’m supporting a writer whose parents told them they’d never make any money.”

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· 24d

My MC procuring food and supplies for her mercenary company. It is not a raid yet, but a “negotiation” with the village she grew up in using her old family name for leverage. The village reeve validating the claim by accident. Which… of course, is not taken lightly. #WIPSnip

Edda watched him with the same irritation one would scowl at a rat in the kitchen. He scurried towards a huge chest standing in the corner of the big room. Within a few moments he had opened it and began rummaging between stacks of papers until he finally produced an old, slightly burned ledger.
“In here.” He claimed triumphantly, proud of his orderly record-keeping, and sifted through a few pages until he found the one he was looking for.
“Branntorv was a family name here. We used one of their old shipping manifests as a base for our current ones.”
Unaware of having given Maerina a lot more credibility with this, he held the paper towards the angry Fen Warden.
The lost daughter of Alderfold crossed her arms, tilted her own head, and sported a challenging gaze with a slightly raised eyebrow.
Maerina felt horrible doing this, but she knew she had to gain the upper hand first before she could relent on the pressure. So, she stared the resisting, defiant woman down.
With a low growl, Edda gave way.
“You understand… this will… kill us all.”

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· 26d

From my dark fantasy piece "Emberline" - not "divine", but my MC feels like an furious goddess of war in this scene. Cornered, she is rallying her men into a last stand. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

“We can run like cowards and be laughed out of our afterlife… or we fight for our rightful place in Wrothgar’s Halls!”
A few men began drawing their own swords.
Someone in the back shouted in defiance.
That was why these men were here. This was why they had joined her in the first place. To be tested harder than any other band.
Maerina pointed her sword at the brightly burning Sightfire.
“Freydis is here! She is taking Greyhelm’s soul to the heavens. Wrothgar is here with us, presenting our challenge, and Anevik is our witness!”
Her voice seemed to fill the whole valley and she could feel how this – finally – began to ignite the spark in the band. She turned around and pointed her sword at their enemies.
“I… will not… submit!”
Full of scorn, she radiated so much defiance, anger, and ice-cold will that it reached every single soul around her.
“I will not submit!”
She repeated, and this quickly became a chant. Everyone was yelling it together. Standing like a goddess herself on that boulder in the valley, surrounded by her followers, she was awash with confidence.
Nobody would run. They would sell their lives dearly.
And not a moment too soon. A line of bowmen had formed, ready to end them then and there.

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· 27d

Not "next" directly but "second time" for this one. From "Emberline", my dark fantasy piece. MC is being sung into leadership of the mercenary company. A most frightening experience :) #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

By the time the Skaldas reached the chorus for the second time, more and more men joined the song, until, only a few moments later, the whole company was singing along.
It was deafening.
Exhilarating.
And frightening. Maerina’s heart filled with mortal panic, and yet she held her head high and her gaze firm. Knowing her friend was by her side gave her enough confidence to play the part, despite feeling the adrenaline leave her body.
She wanted to throw up.

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 15

#WIPSnip MC and her best friend waking up in their tent. The day they are going to have is wild.

“Halvek!”
Maerina opened her eyes, still drunk on the deep sleep she had just woken from. For a moment, she was confused as to where she was, but when she turned her head to the side, she saw K lying next to her in their tent. Her friend’s eyes were already open and both women looked at each other for a long moment.
The shades of her chaotic dreams of the night slowly vanished, replaced by a feeling of warmth and safety. She could lose herself in those blue eyes.
Sometimes, she wondered…
“Halvek?!”
Greyhelm’s voice boomed across their camp. He seemed distressed in a way that signalled something was wrong. The usual calmness in his voice was gone and replaced by… what? Urgency?
Propping herself up on her blanket, she heard their captain approach.

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 13

“How I grew my social media presence as an author.” 😭 I can barely manage once a week tbh. #writingcommunity

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 12

Once we are finished with the formatting, I will pick a release date that is four weeks out so we can have enough time to hype it up a bit :) Launch team still open: 👉 Check link in my profile and sign up #booksky #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #amwriting

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 9

Well... that doesn't make things easier now. If the first two chapters are working, they are REALLY working. And here I thought to cut them and work the beats into a faster pacing. #writing #writingcommunity #amwriting #booksky #writesky

Holy... Okay, wow. I'm sitting here staring at my screen, mouth hanging open. Τhe entire sequence in the cellar, the pacing, the sheer raw intensity, and the way you transitioned from Maerina being the victim to her taking controleven if it was a dark, desperate kind of control was done so well.

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 9

I have “keep” as a small keep my MC needs to storm with a ladder assault. It sounds easy enough on paper but when you are in the mud in front of the walls, arrows hissing next to your head… it becomes insanity. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Her eyes flicked up the wall again. Searching for the next tip of an arrow or bolt. Instinctively she stepped forward, hauling her shield up and letting yet another projectile burrow into it. That made it… what, five now?
How could K keep track of things like this, she wondered, but only for a brief moment.
Groaning, the soldiers in her group lifted the ladder up. On the parapet, the defenders poked at them with hooks and spears. It was hard to tell what was happening and how it was going.
Next to her, one of the men she knew from the Blades fell down and landed on the ground with a nasty crunch.
He did not move anymore.
“In place!” their Tain shouted.
A volley of their own archers showered the defenders. A quick look over her shoulder revealed the rest of their band leaving the forest and loosing barrage after barrage as cover.
The defenders took shelter behind the battlements and most of their arrows would bounce off the stone impotently.
This gave them time, however.
She watched the first few men climb up the rungs, shield overhead, and sword in hand.
“Up, up!” K shouted, and she lifted her shield a bit higher.
A flash of doubt ran through her body.
How were they supposed to ever get up this wall?
This was insanity.

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 7

This bit is one moment where my MC almost gave up. She just killed two men, defending herself in a brutal, intimate melee with one and then another soldier. Then she has four more men coming her direction.

A painful groan snapped her back into the present, as Yilva moved on the front board of their wagon.
“Maerina,” she groaned, blind with pain, her face a swollen mess. “Get the mules.”
“But Doreth! She is… she is…”
As the Hearth Mother got up, she looked back at the burning camp. Maerina followed her gaze.
Four more men were jogging in their direction.

Chapter 10 – Make Her Stay
Her heart sank as she watched the approaching men.
All her energy left her, and she wanted to sink to the ground next to Doreth. This was it. She was spent. She could no longer resist.
This was all she had to give to the world.
Or at least, that was what her first impulse was.
Instead, she raised her blade and lowered her head.
As the cold panic gripped her chest it tried to wring her down to the ground. She had trouble just keeping herself upright, but she remained standing even with trembling legs and wobbly arms.

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 7

So, I’m returning to my opening chapters. Doing sort of an A/B test with my beta readers. Now I’m getting all excited to rewrite those first pages with all the stuff I’ve learned in the meantime. Already got some good ideas. 😏 #writing #writingcommunity #amwriting #booksky #writesky

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 6

Hmm… 🤔 #writingcommunity #writing #amwriting #writesky

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 5

From my dark fantasy piece “Emberline” My MC has, for the first time, crossed a major moral line and now has to deal with the emotional consequences. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

With an empty gaze, she wobbled forward and placed herself next to her friend on the bench with a tired thud.
K stopped eating and turned to her, waving away other soldiers who were about to join them. Then she wrinkled her nose.
“You stink.”
Maerina laughed, short and hard, before her gaze went back into the distance.
“What did we just do…?”
“What do you mean?”
She leaned back and rested an elbow on the table. Her dirty fingers twitched and ached, and she felt a deep exhaustion in her body that was more than just tiredness.
“Burning down those homesteads and driving off the villagers. A few resisted.”
Her eyes became glassy.
“We cut them down.”
Another one of those unreadable expressions from her friend.
“That is… normal, Maerina.”
It was K’s way of comforting her. And in whatever crude way she did it, somehow, Maerina always felt better in her presence.
“It should not be.”

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 3

The inspiration for my main character of “Emberline”

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 3

From my dark fantasy piece “Emberline” MC and her best friend are getting armed by their hearth mother. A mercenary camp is a dangerous place, but also there’s love and friendship to be found. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

With that, she pointed at a barrel next to her that all of them had ignored up until now. There were six daggers on it of varying sizes – all of them sheathed. Maerina felt a slight chill in her chest as she looked at the weapons. Two of them were simple, meant as tools, but the other four were properly forged.
Those were real weapons.
With a serious face, their Hearth Mother handed the blades over.
“Always wear one visibly. Always wear one hidden. And always have one more.”
Three daggers in hand, Maerina was not sure how to attach them to her clothes, but then she saw Doreth put one in each of her boots. She followed suit.
The third one came with a small belt, which each of them fastened around their waist.
It felt weird.
And empowering. In a way.
Scary, too.
“I would tell you to stay away from men, but you are not going to listen to me anyway,” Yilva then went on.
“But at least, don’t get yourself killed. I’d hate to train me a new camp rat.”
Doreth began to fake cry.
“That’s… that’s the most beautiful thing you have ever said to me…”
Maerina stifled a laugh and Yilva scowled.
“Get your asses out there! Our guests are waiting.”

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jul 1

Well, I got myself some fancy new chapter titles now. Still thinking about what kind of convention to follow here, but I like this “commands to herself” style. What conventions do you folks usually follow? #writing #amwriting #writesky #booksky

Chapter 1 – Stand Upright
Chapter 2 – Do Not Scream
Chapter 3 – Become Invisible
Chapter 4 – Protect Them
Chapter 5 – Pick Your Poison
Chapter 6 – Never Come Back
Chapter 7 – Work Hard
Chapter 8 – Always Have One More
Chapter 9 – Do Not Submit
Chapter 10 – Make Her Stay
Chapter 11 – Bury The Dead
Chapter 12 – Do Not Allow It
Chapter 13 – Take The Token
Chapter 14 – Sing Along
Chapter 15 – Do Not Die
Chapter 16 – Volunteer
Chapter 17 – Do Not Leave Her
Chapter 18 – Get To Work
Chapter 19 – Be Patient
Chapter 20 – Control Yourself
Chapter 21 – Hold The Pass
Chapter 22 – Fight With Me
Chapter 23 – Trust Her
Chapter 24 – Do Not Trust Her
Chapter 25 – Fight For Her
Chapter 26 – Get Her Back
Chapter 27 – Remember Home
Chapter 28 – Work Him A Bit
Chapter 29 – Straighten Your Spine
Chapter 30 – Cross The Line
Chapter 31 – Play The Part

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 27

From my dark fantasy piece “Emberline” MC is negotiating food supply for her mercenary company. Problem is, that will most likely ruin the village. Now she is trying to find a way to avoid that while still getting food. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

“We are poor.”
“I am sure you have some extra storage spaces you could open.”
The old woman’s head tilted back, chin high, looking at her from above.
Sometimes, it annoyed Maerina that everyone seemed to be taller than her.
“Oh, are you now? Why do you not tell me about those… mysterious storage spaces?”
Maerina had to take a few steps. On one side, to cool off her own rising temper. On the other, to contemplate how she wanted to play this. Alderfold’s Fen Warden was particularly stern, much more than she had hoped. If they had found someone more agreeable, this could have been a lot easier, but as it stood, Maerina felt she had to apply a bit of pressure first.
“Well, I know about the Root House, the Back Spring and the Ashen Cleft. I know you hide food in the Black Shelf and the Cold Oven.”
Despite her hardness, the face of the old woman grew visibly paler.
“How do you know these places?”
Feeling as if she had managed to jam in a metaphorical blade into Edda’s defences, Maerina’s confidence grew slightly. Turning her hand around, she looked at her dirty fingernails.
“Good scouting.”
“Horseshit! How do you know these names?”

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 26

Germany vacation. Polishing the final pages of “Game Design: Impossible 2”. And admiring the wonderful specificity of this vending machine. You need two coins, a 1 € and a 2€, otherwise it won’t work. Glorious. #booksky #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #amwriting

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 21

Usually surrounded by people who do not care at all 😅 #writing #amwriting #booksky #writesky

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 20

Release will come after summer! Formatting is more work than I anticipated. Thanks @Justyna for the help! This means my launch team can remain open a little while longer :) 👉 Check the link on my profile and sign up #booksky #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #amwriting

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 18

#writesky #writing #amwriting #writingcommunity

A four-panel meme featuring Tom from Tom and Jerry holding a pencil and a sheet of paper. In each panel he pauses, thinks, and looks increasingly frustrated as if struggling to come up with ideas. The top text reads “WRITING” and the bottom text reads “ME,” humorously portraying writer’s block or the difficulty of writing.

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 16

Not “oak” but “tree trunks” in my dark fantasy piece “Emberline” I’m a sucker for duels - so, naturally, I have a few in my story. Because action is awesome 😎

K dropped her weapon and pulled out a long, bent throwing knife, which she patiently waved up and down in her hand. She was trying to find the right moment to attack. The metal gleamed dangerously in the red light of the fire.
Swinging her arm in a wide arc, she cast the blade into the chest of the third man, who grasped at it, stumbled, and fell, rolling over his own feet before he stopped moving.
The fourth, a wild man with arms like tree trunks and a long beard that flew behind him as he ran, then was upon her.
He crashed his axe into her breastplate so hard that K tumbled backwards and fell.
Maerina’s heart stopped beating for a few moments.
If that monster was able to bring down K, what could she do against it? Should she just run? Leave Yilva and save her own life? Leave… Doreth?
However, she was too much in shock to move, the blade in her hand trembling with barely contained panic.
With horror in her eyes, she watched the uneven fight unfold.

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 15

What's one of the weirdest sentences you have written in your manuscript? Show me without context :) Just did this one and, without context, its pretty odd. #writing #amwriting #booksky #writesky

“You were right. They would never have eaten their horses.”

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 14

Why did I write the books in the first place? Several reasons, but here is the main one. Last call for launch team. If you want to hop on board, do so now :) 👉 Check the link in my profile and sign up #booksky #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #amwriting

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 12

Why did I call the new book “Game Design: Impossible 2?” And not some more standalone title? Closing the launch team soon, so if you want to hop on board, do so now :) 👉 Check the link in my profile and sign up #booksky #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #amwriting

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 8

My dark fantasy piece “Emberline” where the MCs mentor speaks about the primordial god who is trying to reclaim the world. And Maerina does not have it, because her own revenge path matters more to her.

“She is the end of the world. She will come. And there is nothing we can do about it.”
He was completely serious and the way he said it sent a fundamental, bone-chilling shudder through her body. Something she – and probably everyone alive on this world – felt in their deepest essence all the time. They were all living on borrowed time. Their whole existence was a fluke that could end any moment without anyone being able to prevent it.
In light of this revelation, their conflict with Leofric, Hadrik, or even the Green Duchess felt insignificant.
Stunned, she did not know what to say for a few long moments.
However, as soon as she remembered the smell of sweat and roses, something in her belly stirred, breaking the tension.
“There is always something we can do.”
To her surprise, this ignited a faint spark in the old eyes of her captain.
He smiled.
And then waved himself off.
“Ah. Do not listen to me. I am old and tired. You are young. The world belongs to more courageous spirits now.”

Guido Schmidt@narkerns· Jun 7

Guido_Schmidt - Game Design Impossible 2 - final.docx The manuscript is done! Final edits are finished! Launch team closing soon, so if you want to hop on board, do now :) 👉 Check the link in my profile and sign up #booksky #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #amwriting