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This week we leave the idyllic forests and pristine meadows behind to enter the deep dark dampness of the swamp! Or the bog, marsh, fen, mangrove forest, whatever floats your swamp boat. These wetlands are often portrayed as dangerous and unfriendly to humans, which isn’t … read more »
Brrrr, it’s cold! That’s bad enough, but what if there were monsters in the cold? That would be way worse, if maybe more fun, and it’s what we’re discussing today. We talk about the coolest ice monsters out there, and then list some snow creatures … read more »
Behold, you thought the story was about this character, but actually it was the cutesy animal companion pulling strings from behind the scenes. Aren’t you in awe of this clever twist? If you’ve ever beheld something like that, you’ve seen a puppeteer in the wild, … read more »
Villains are bad people, but are they always wrong? Maybe not! Sometimes the villain has a good idea buried under all their evil. That’s why this week, we’re talking about how to create villains who have a point. We discuss why authors do this, how … read more »
It was a dark and stormy podcast. Suddenly, a host called out “what does weather mean in fiction?” So we decided to do that for a topic. That’s right, 30 minutes talking about the weather. Flee while you can! Or stay and discover what weather … read more »
Scifi, mystery, literary, these are all genres, and each of them means something different. But what does genre mean, exactly? How important is it to the writing process, or the publishing process for that matter? Listen in as we tackle those very questions this week. … read more »
Mages are difficult to oppress, what with how they can teleport and shoot fire out of their hands, but that doesn’t stop authors from trying. Some stories manage to get past the practical barriers of oppressing mages before running into the socio-political ones, but we’re … read more »
Everyone loves using their cultural heritage for spec fic inspiration, but what happens when Americans look to their own folklore for ideas? They find out that most American folklore is terrible, that’s what. But do not despair, for in among the bigoted mess, there are … read more »
It’s a podcast topic so nice we recorded it twice! But seriously, there are so many of these sayings, we just had to extend it into a two-parter. Heck, we could probably have done a third episode, but that would be a little much. Listen … read more »
We’ve all heard the sayings and truisms about writing: “Write what you know,” “show don’t tell,” and the like. They come in different forms, but they’re remarkably consistent all the same. What do these sayings actually mean? What value do they have, and how can … read more »