You can create wonderful characters, build a vibrant setting, and engineer a shocking plot twist, but if you don’t stick the landing none of that matters.
Episode 40: Structurally Unsound Stories
Sometimes you go through that first re-read, and something’s just off. Maybe its the sagging middle, a ending that doesn’t seem to fit, or something else, its important to look at the structure of the story before you start making the minor tweaks.
Also, Austin makes an impassioned plea for the Oxford Comma…
Episode 39: Ask an Expert on Medicine with Karl Kruger
People get hurt and need to be patched up every day, and the stories of healing and the road to recovery strike a cord with all of us. This week, Karl Kruger, Navy veteran, ER Nurse and author of Pajo and short stories such as “He had a Pulse,” joins us to enlighten us about some of the common on screen mistakes he sees, and how we can improve our works to maintain the suspension of disbelief.
We can’t promise you’ll get a medical degree if you listen to this episode, we had so much fun recording that we went a bit longer than normal. Hope you don’t mind and thanks for listening!
You can find Pajo on Amazon here.
Episode 38: I’m Finished! Now What?
Its a wonderful feeling to write “the end,” but what comes next? We’ll talk about how you transition from the creation phase of a project to the editing phase.
Episode 37: Lets Have a Little Chat
If I don’t care what a character says, or what they say is boring, have they really said anything? Dialog is a critical tool for any writer to establish a sense of character, keep the reader’s interest and drive the plot forward. We’ll talk about verbal sword fights and a few common mistakes to avoid.
Episode 36: Horror with Bill Bridges
After a few technical delays, we’re back!
And while Austin was too scared to join us this week, Bill Bridges was happy to fill in as we make up the Genre episode we swapped out in July. We’ll talk about how the authors (and game designers) give readers that looming sense of dread that has become a hallmark for many works of nightmare.
Bill is a game designer and author who has been working in the industry for nearly 25 years and has worked on over 30 RPGs, video games and books in his career.
Hes also a member of the Broadleaf writers association and will be at the conference in Atlanta on Sept 23-24! You can find more information at http://broadleafwriters.com/category/2017-broadleaf-writers-conference/
Episode 35: Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Wrapping up July with the genres where it all began for us: Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Give us a warp drive and a spell book and we’ll be good to good.
Episode 34: Debrief of the NY Pitch Conference
We interrupt Genre July to talk about Brandon’s experience at the New York Pitch Conference he attended at the end of June. We’ll talk through the highs, the lows, and all the horrible mistakes he made so if you ever go to a conference, you will be better prepared.
Episode 33: Mystery with Romily Bernard
Sometimes you just need a good detective to figure out the world’s most dastardly crimes, like who stole Austin’s first edition boxed set of Twilight novels??? Thankfully, Romily Bernard is on the case to help us figure out how to lay clues, navigate the twists and turns of an investigation and figure out what makes a good mystery so hard to put down.
Romily is the author of the Find Me and Munchem Academy Series, and has a new stand alone novel, Never Apart, coming out on October 3rd.
When teen hacker and foster child Wick Tate finds a dead classmate’s diary on her front step, with a note reading “Find me,” she sets off on a perverse game of hide-and-seek to catch the killer. But things get even more personal as Wick’s deadbeat dad returns and the killer points to Wick’s sister Lily as the next target.
You can find sample chapters, interviews with Romily, and more information about her upcoming books on her website at www.romilybernard.com.
Episode 32: Speculative Fiction with JD Jordan
For the second week of Genre July, Austin and I are joined by JD Jordan, author of Calamity, to discuss one of genres that is most near and dear to the hearts of these two geeks: Speculative fiction.
Calamity is a sci-fi/western genre mashup origin story of Calamity Jane and her gunslinging green friend. Best read with a Southern Missouri accent in mind, its a fun ride through some of the most fertile story telling ground this side of the Mississippi as Jane comes into her own as one of the most feared outlaws in the Wild Wild West.
Get a free sample chapter, reviews, a companion story, book club resources, a guide to Jane’s notorious saddle slang, and more at o-jd.com.
Calamity is available anywhere books are sold. You can get it from amazon here.
